The tax rate that Bethlehem residents paid last year will likely remain the same in 2025.
The Bethlehem City Council approved its $112.49 million budget without raising taxes at its final meeting of the year on Tuesday. The 2025 budget was made achievable with no increase thanks to the 2024 tax rate, which increased by 2.6% over the previous year. The 2024 tax increase made it possible to increase salaries for firefighters and police officers, as well as to purchase new radios for emergency services and police bodies and dash cameras. The percentage of emergency calls handled in the city will also rise with the addition of more city emergency medical technicians.
The City Council approved ten spending plans in all. They contained capital budgets for non-utilities, water utilities, and sewer utilities; a community development block grant budget; a measure that fixed the 2025 tax rate for all city purposes; and budgets for the water fund, sewer fund, golf course enterprise fund, stormwater fund, and liquid fuel fund.
The $26 million non-utility capital budget was allocated to a wide range of projects. For example, $818,000 is set aside for public works related to traffic, while $315,000 is set aside for the replacement of police vehicles. Public works for street projects will total more than $17 million, including $2 million for the two-way conversion of Linden and Center streets, approximately $4.2 million for street overlays, almost $400,000 for two Mack heavy-duty dump trucks, $1.1 million for the East Broad Street Active Transportation Plan, and $10 million for improvements to the West Broad Street corridor. Residents and community members who attended budget sessions and provided feedback were praised by Councilmember Rachel Leon.
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