Lehigh County property owners are facing a 16.7% property tax increase in 2027 after commissioners voted 7-2 Wednesday night to adopt an amended version of County Executive Josh Siegel's budget. The vote came after weeks of negotiation that saw lawmakers strip out new administrative positions and a controversial campaign-finance program before signing off on the spending plan at the county government center in Allentown.
The adopted budget raises the county's millage rate from 3.78 to 4.41, according to mcall.com. That's below the 4.45 mills Siegel originally proposed, a plan that would have translated to a 17.7% tax increase. One mill equals $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of assessed property value, the outlet notes, and the median assessed home value in Lehigh County sits at $169,400.
How Commissioners Trimmed the Tax Hike
Commissioners had offered roughly $1.4 million in budget reductions on October 14, according to WFMZ.com, trimming the proposed millage rate from 4.45 down to 4.41. Among the cuts: a proposed chief of staff position that would have carried $133,020 in salary and benefits, and a communications director post valued at $129,409 in salary and benefits, both eliminated from Siegel's original plan.
Commissioners also killed a proposed Clean Elections grant initiative that would have allocated $500,000 in taxpayer money to fund political campaigns, per the station's report. That program had been included in Siegel's original proposal.
Two Rejected Alternatives
Before settling on the final numbers, commissioners considered two competing proposals that would have softened or eliminated the increase altogether. Commissioner Antonio Pineda pushed to send the budget back to Siegel for resubmission at a 3.78 millage rate, which would have meant no property tax increase at all; that motion was rejected, per the same account. Commissioner Sarah Fevig separately proposed resubmitting the budget at a 4.31 millage rate, which would have produced a 14% tax increase, but that motion was voted down 7-2 as well, according to mcall.com.
Officials Defend the Increase
Siegel framed the tax hike as the responsible path forward, telling commissioners the increase stemmed from years of failing to raise taxes gradually, the station reports. He has previously said the county's tax revenue has been almost flat since 2011, even as costs climbed.
Commissioner Geoff Brace said he was not comfortable cutting the tax increase further than the amended version already allowed, warning that additional reductions could compromise essential county services, according to WFMZ.com's account of the meeting. Commissioner Dan Hartzell said he would not vote for either amendment offered that night, arguing that commissioners — not the executive — should be the ones designating which reductions to make.
Years of Growing Gap Between Revenue and Spending
The tax increase follows a longer-running budget squeeze in Lehigh County. Revenue grew just 12% from 2018 through 2026, while expenditures climbed 28% over the same period, according to wfmz.com. Elsewhere in the Lehigh Valley, similar pressure has been building: Northampton County had not raised its county property tax millage in eight years as of a May report from mcall.com, though a separate county proposal floated this fall has drawn its own scrutiny over a potential hike.
The increase in Lehigh County also lands amid a broader wave of local tax decisions across the region. Lehigh Valley school districts were expected to weigh their own property tax decisions for the owners of 259,059 properties earlier this year, mcall.com reported, while municipalities like Catasauqua — which holds the county's highest municipal tax rate at 15.05 mills — and Plainfield, which cut its rate 42% this year, show just how widely local tax burdens can swing from town to town.
