Lehigh County Tax Increase Heads to a Final Vote Oct. 28

Lehigh County commissioners took the first of two votes on the 2027 county budget Wednesday night, and the budget carries a county property tax increase. The final vote is set for Oct. 28.

What happened Wednesday

The Lehigh County Board of Commissioners approved the initial 2027 budget on first reading, according to the WFMZ report on the Oct. 14 meeting. Commissioners passed 11 amendments that cut spending and trimmed the increase slightly from what County Executive Josh Siegel first proposed. It is smaller than the first proposal, but it is still an increase.

Three of those amendments eliminated county staff positions on 7-2 votes. Siegel said he did not ask Lehigh County taxpayers "for a penny more than was needed."

The budget comes back for a second reading on Oct. 28. If it passes, the higher rate is set for the 2027 county budget.

Who feels this first

If you live in the house, a bigger county line on the bill is something you plan around.

It lands differently if you are carrying a Lehigh County house that nobody lives in. That might be the twin in Allentown your parents lived in, still full of furniture, or a rental in Whitehall that has sat empty since the last tenant left. A house like that already costs you every month:

• the county, township or city, and school district taxes, all three
• keeping the heat on through the winter so the pipes do not freeze
• the lawn in summer and the sidewalk snow in winter, or a notice from the township
• the drive over to check on it

A county increase is one more line on a house that is not paying you back.

If you inherited the house

Pennsylvania has its own clock for heirs. The inheritance tax page from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue says the tax is due at death and becomes delinquent nine months after the death. Paying within three months earns a discount. The rate depends on how the heir was related to the person who passed. The attorney or accountant handling the estate is the right person for that math. We are not.

What we do

We buy houses in Lehigh County and across eastern Pennsylvania directly from the owner, as-is, with our own money. There is no cleanout, no repair list and no showings, and you pick the closing date. We do not sell our contracts to other investors. We close on the house ourselves. Here is what happens after you accept a cash offer, step by step.

If you would rather not carry a Lehigh County house into next year, tell us the address on our cash offer form and we will tell you plainly what we can do.