BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh Valley residents have been mostly spared from property tax hikes at the county level in recent years.
Lehigh County’s tax rate has gone up once in more than a decade, while Northampton County’s is lower than it was five years ago.
But those stagnant streaks could soon come to an end as lawmakers in both counties weigh their rookie executives’ first budget proposals.
Northampton County Executive Tara Zrinski is asking homeowners to pay 43.5% more in property taxes next year.
Upping the millage rate from 10.8 to 15.5 would raise about $43.5 million in new revenue; that money is needed to maintain county services, support unfunded programs and launch a long-term plan to overhaul Gracedale, the county-owned nursing home, Zrinski said.
A county west, Executive Josh Siegel is asking residents to pay 17.7% more in property taxes to shore up a yawning structural deficit and protect the finances at the Cedarbrook nursing home.
Siegel said his proposed tax increase would generate more than $21 million in new revenue next year to pay for 2,000-plus employees’ contractually obligated raises and rising health care costs, among other priorities.
Several Lehigh County committees have already reviewed Siegel’s proposal, which will be dissected by the full Board of Commissioners at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Government Center in Center City Allentown.
Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the budget Oct. 28, according to the county’s calendar.
Northampton County Council is set to hold special budget meetings on Oct. 21, Oct. 28, Nov. 4 and Nov. 18. Those sessions start at 4:30 p.m. at the county Government Center in Easton.
A public hearing on the budget and the county’s capital improvements plan is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3 in the same place, and council could vote on the budget that night.
How much could taxes go up?
Property taxes in Pennsylvania are calculated on a home’s assessed value rather than its market value.
That works in many Lehigh Valley taxpayers’ favor as market values far exceed assessed values for most properties, particularly since neither county has done a comprehensive reassessment in more than a decade.
Lehigh County did its last property-value survey in 2013, while Northampton County’s most recent reassessment happened more than 30 years ago.
That decades-long wait has led to significant value gaps.
A three-bedroom home in Bethlehem will soon be sold for $233,000, according to online realty listings. But that property is assessed at just $51,600, Northampton County’s tax records show.
Its owner would be on the hook for $800 in county taxes next year under Zrinski’s proposal, an increase of $242.52, or about $20 a month. The tax bill for that property would be thousands more if it was based on its newly established market value.
A similar home on Laubach Avenue in Northampton is assessed at about $43,000 but sold this summer for $92,000, according to online records. Zrinski’s plan would raise taxes on that by $200 next year.
Lehigh County residents who own properties worth $170,000 – the median assessed value – would see their taxes climb about $114 in 2027, or $9.50 a month, under Siegel's proposal.
Taxes levied by Northampton County make up about 15-20% of the total property tax bill for most residents, while property taxes are a slightly smaller percentage of the total bill for Lehigh County property owners.
The bill also includes a levy from each municipality, and many residents could be facing tax increases at that level, too.
Easton Mayor Sal Panto is proposing a one-mill property tax raise, an increase of about 4%. If approved, it would be Easton’s first tax increase in almost two decades.
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk is expected to present his 2027 budget proposal this week, as he’s required to submit his annual fiscal plan to council by Oct. 17.
Tuerk last year forced through a budget that included an almost 4% tax increase – Allentown’s first in seven years – and he’s repeatedly urged council members and residents to support incremental raises to avoid double-digit hikes like those now proposed by Siegel and Zrinski.
Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds typically delivers his budget address in late October or early November. Taxes in the Steel City have gone up twice since 2021.
Many Lehigh Valley residents who are facing hikes in their municipal and county property taxes earlier this year swallowed increases in the biggest portion of their property tax bills.
Fourteen of 17 Lehigh Valley school districts raised tax rates in the summer.