Why your vote for Allentown City Council matters: Here’s how the candidates say they will balance providing services while limiting tax hikes

Oct. 29--Allentown's seven-member City Council will get at least two new faces behind the dais in 2020.

Three Democrats and one Republican are vying on the Nov. 5 ballot for a trio of open seats.

The Democrats are first-term incumbent Candida Affa; Ce-Ce Gerlach, an Allentown School Board member and the top vote-getter in the spring primary; and Josh Siegel, a former mayoral candidate who edged incumbent Courtney Robinson in the primary for the final nomination.

They're joined by Republican Joe Hoffman, who's trying to persuade citizens in the predominantly blue city to forgo voting straight Democrat.

The Morning Call posed a handful of questions to the candidates and will feature one each day.

Today's question: Come budget season, how will you balance providing ample services, funding capital improvements and maintaining a sound credit rating while also limiting tax and fee hikes?

Candida Affa, Democrat, West End, retired bar owner, 76

First and foremost, we must have a budget process that is more transparent and allows both City Council and the public to see exactly what city finances look like at any given point.

By utilizing more advanced technological platforms than are currently used, we can provide the necessary transparency so that everyone in the city can trust the financial outlooks provided by the administration. This data should range from a simple breakdown of how each dollar of tax revenue is spent to a detailed breakdown of payments and pending payments on each department's accounts. This detailed data will not only aid in reestablishing trust in the city government but will also allow us to be more realistic in our long-term financial planning.

Once we are not only more realistic with our long-term planning, but the public is also seeing much more detailed and timely financial data, we will have created a situation in which politicians cannot create a rosier picture than the facts would suggest. We will make if far more difficult if not impossible for an administration to keep things from the council or the public. Ed Pawlowski was by no means the first mayor in Allentown's history to fudge numbers to avoid raising taxes for political purposes, but with these changes -- God willing -- he will be the last.

Council also must take a far more active and vocal role in the process. We must demand that the any administration provide us with the correct information as was provided for the 2019 budget by Mayor Ray O'Connell. Council also must be prepared to sound the warning bell if any future administrations try to pass the financial buck. With more than 70% of our budget being personnel costs, cutting costs without cutting services becomes near impossible.

Joe Hoffman, Republican, South Side, retired grants manager, 65

Start with a basic city budget of about $110 million. With a four-year average of 3% inflation and a $10 million initial expenditure cut, a 2024 budget would be no more than $120 million. Raising $50 million in other monies can be distributed as follows:

-- $10 million in budget cuts so no tax or fee increases would be necessary.

-- $15 million returned to taxpayers in tax rebates to lessen the impact of that abominable 27% tax increase.

-- $25 million in new revenue for new social and human service projects that are much needed.

An alternative would be to select projects currently funded by tax dollars and find outside revenues to take these projects off the budget and reduce tax needs even further.

The guaranteed funding of services and replenishment of the capital improvement fund, coupled with prompt combined and even accelerated debt repayment, will produce the gradual improvement of Allentown's credit rating without further governmental intervention.

Again I have helped communities do these things. One example -- I secured a $7 million grant for a Pennsylvania municipality for a new water treatment plant that enabled that borough to reduce residential water and sewer rates by 33%. That was a direct fee reduction for senior citizens. Actually not having to pay a tax or fee to begin with is even better than a tax refund years after the fact.

In fairness, it is difficult to execute all these ideas and still operate the day-to-day affairs of government. But when qualified outsiders offer these additional services and efforts without charge to the city and receive either a negative reply or no reply at all, then there is room for criticism.

Ce-Ce Gerlach, Democrat, Center City, mental health therapist, 33

One of the first things we need to do in regards to the budget is make the time that council is able to review the budget longer. For years the budget has been shrouded by the previous administration. Council hasn't had the ability to delve deeply and see where every penny is being spent. We need to give council more time to do that. We need to go through the budget line by line and see where every tax dollar is being spent. We need to systematically sit down and question how and why we are spending. Then we can work to trim the fat. I will meet with each department head to identify what cost savings exist. Employees in the trenches know where the waste is, which is why I will also spend time with them and listen to their ideas.

Collaboration is crucial. Currently the intergovernmental committee does not have frequent meetings, and this is a huge downfall because Allentown does not exists in a vacuum. Municipalities throughout the nation and right here in the commonwealth are dealing with similar fiscal issues. Communicating and collaborating with leaders in other towns, cities and boroughs would allow us to identify best practices, grants and funding streams. Collaboration and communication between governmental bodies would also allow us to identify overlaps and gaps in services.

Joshua Siegel, Democrat, East Side, Lehigh County public information officer, 25

As I've discussed numerous times on the campaign trail, I want to start a broader and more in-depth conversation on who needs to contribute to the city's continued success. This requires looking to our corporate and nonprofit partners who are now mutually tied to the city's well-being. I believe that with my policies, the city will be able to pay for vital services, invest in its future and maintain a predictable and stable rate of taxation for its residents.

I've discussed the need for a PILOT Program similar to those implemented in numerous cities throughout the country. A PILOT or Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes, requests that local nonprofits, in this case our hospitals and colleges which are tax-exempt but none the less are inextricably connected to the city's future, provide funding to city projects and programs.

These programs are pragmatic, sensible and in the interest of all parties, a stronger city means more students, or more use of their services. In Providence, Rhode Island, the city reached an agreement with its local colleges to contribute $48 million over 20 years, according to the Lincoln Land Institute. There are similar programs in Boston, New Haven, Pittsburgh and Lancaster.

To be clear, I don't believe this money should be handed over in the absence of a strategic framework for how the money will be spent, but it's funds the city needs. I would ask people to look at the example of Columbus, Ohio, where Nationwide Children's Hospital has taken a stake in revitalizing the neighborhoods around the hospital by actively building and repairing properties.

Furthermore, I believe the city should take the lead in working with state representatives and county officials to create a regional asset district similar to Allegheny County's, which has provided Pittsburgh with much needed revenue and helped stabilize property tax rates.

Tomorrow's question: How do you think council handled public outcry over gun violence and police leadership this summer? What would have you done differently, if anything?

Morning Call reporter Andrew Wagaman can be reached at 610-820-6764 or [email protected]

-- Allentown

-- Allentown City Council

-- 2019 general election

-- Joshua Siegel

-- Ce-Ce Gerlach

-- Joe Hoffman

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