After two budget sessions before Bethlehem City Council, it appears the 2023 budget will be a no tax increase budget thanks to a $34 million gift from the feds. COVID-relief money is going to the mayor’s special interests.
Mayor J. William Reynolds is very lucky. He received so much money he can fund most of the progressive agenda items he wants. Instead of spending more on the city’s “core mission” items like roads, water, sewer, public safety, parks or tax reductions that will benefit the majority of people in the city, his top priorities seem to be “homelessness” and “affordable housing”. Admirable, but not “core mission” priorities.
It appears the mayor is funding a political agenda and not focused the majority of people in the city. Nowhere in the budget hearings have we heard the question: “What could we do to reduce taxes in the city?”
Reynolds is spending money, in excess of $500,000 on a number of expensive consultants to prepare self-serving reports on such items as:
· Michael Baker study to build a new regional homeless shelter,
· Reinvestment Fund study on affordable housing,
· WSP consultants for climate action,
· Consultant study for a new community center on the Southside,
· Citizen Lab consultants to prepare a very biased survey of priorities,
· Lehigh Valley with Love, the mayor’s former campaign PR firm, to help with communications,
· consultants to study a new pedestrian bridge, and
· who knows what other consultants are on board to produce studies to justify a political agenda.
I suggest council increase its effort to improve the city’s “core mission” providing --- low-cost basic services for the majority of the people of Bethlehem?
Bud Hackett
Bethlehem
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