Oct. 27, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Northampton County Council will hold its second hearing on County Executive Tara Zrinski’s proposed 44% tax increase on Wednesday.
There might be drama. People are angry and Council is looking for cuts.
Earlier, I estimated the final tax increase earlier at 2 mills, an 18.5% tax increase, but it’s time to raise the over/under in betting terms to 25%. That would be a 2.7-mill increase, from 10.8 mills to 13.5. Each mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable property value. Zrinski’s budget seeks a 4.7-mill increase, to 15.5 mills.
That 25% is not an official number, it’s just my projection. As football pools note, this information is for entertainment purposes only. It’s not very entertaining, unfortunately. If I had to bet, I’d take the over.
That increase would cost an average property owner about $13 monthly in direct costs and more as some businesses raise prices to cover higher taxes or rent.
I’ve boosted the O/U after looking over the budget and seeing that Lehigh County’s Board of Commissioners has so far only able to knock off about one mill, or 6%, off County Executive Josh Siegel’s 2027 plan. They’re still working at it.
Back to Northampton County Council, which will hold its second hearing Wednesday. The nine-member Council will review spending on the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC), the Department of Community and Economic Development, the Human Services Department and Gracedale, the county nursing home in Upper Nazareth Township.
There might be fireworks about the $625,000 budgeted for the LVPC and about Gracedale. The nursing home’s administrator has resigned and staff problems and “elopements” continue. This is not running-away-to-get-married elopement, it’s industry jargon for people leaving Gracedale when they’re not supposed to.
Gracedale spending is under something new called Continuum of Care. Name changes make me suspicious.
So far, there has been opposition to Executive Zrinski’s $567 million spending plan from many quarters. The Executive contends that the county has to catch up on spending in several areas.
Northampton County Council will hold its second budget hearing at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in Room 3116 at the government center on Washington Street in Easton. The meeting is open to the public and will be shown on the county’s YouTube channel.
**A few notes about the tax and process. The budget is from the Executive. Council has no input into shaping it before it’s public and Council is separate from the administration. Council can amend the budget, but the county Home Rule Charter gives the Executive the upper hand in the process.
Property taxes from school districts and municipalities are separate. This increase, whatever it works out be, applies only to taxes paid to the county.
