Politics & Government
Bethlehem May See a Tax Increase for 2013
Mayor Callahan tells business leaders that the city faces a $4.8 million shortfall next year without 'corrective action.' City's chief executive will deliver his budget proposal this afternoon.
Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan will release his 2013 budget proposal this afternoon and – based on what he told business leaders Thursday – it may contain a tax increase.
Callahan said the city is looking at a possible deficit of $4.8 million in 2013 without some “corrective action,” according to The Morning Call. Nearly $4 million of that shortfall is the result of increasing pension costs.
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The city is facing a 55 percent increase in its minimum pension obligation that Pennsylvania requires its participating municipalities to pay each year, the newspaper reported. The city’s obligation rises from $7.2 million this year to $11.1 million in 2013.
In addition to a tax increase, the city is also looking at ways at reducing expenditures and increasing revenue. Five jobs will be eliminated, though none through layoffs, the mayor said at a business leaders breakfast hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.
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According to The Express Times, the city is also looking at changing its 911 dispatching system and hiring one single contract hauler to carry the city’s garbage – a move that would certainly draw vehement protests from private contract haulers and their supporters.
The mayor will release the details of his budget proposal at 2 p.m. in City Hall.
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