NorCo Council Rejects Budget Amendment That Would Give LVPC Over $1 Million in 2026

Back in October, during a budget hearing for Northampton County Council, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) requested $965,500 for next year. That's a problem. Executive Lamont McClure has only set aside $625,000 for the bi-county venture. At last week's budget amendment meeting, Council members John Brown and Lori Vargo Heffner tried to give LVPC an additional $461,375 by taking the money from Grow NorCo future grants. They failed. Five votes are needed to move something forward for consideration on December 4, when the budget is adopted. Only four Council members supported the increase. Two Council members - John Goffredo and Ron Heckman - might have given a fifth or even a sixth vote, but they were absent

LVPC, which serves both Lehigh and NorCo, plans regional land use, transportation, recreation, economic development, storm water management, and environmental impact studies. It reviews about 300 subdivision plans a year, just in Northampton County. Most importantly, it provides technical assistance to smaller local governments that have no planners. But does this justify what is 50% increase in the county contribution next year? Lehigh County thinks so and has already voted to. give LVPC what it wants. 

NorCo is a different story. 

"Why do we want to give Lehigh Valley Planning Commission all this money?" demanded Council member Ken Kraft.  "You heard them when they were here. They have a huge budget surplus." 

Council member John Brown supported an increase and said it was part of the agreement we have with our sister county. But in the eyes of Kraft and many others going back to former Council President Wayne Grube, we are treated more like the ugly red-headed step-sister.

Kraft went on a tear.  "I didn't tell them to move into a new building. I didn't tell them to incur all this new debt that they did and I don't think our taxpayers should pay for that. And 90% of it was in salaries alone. ... I think they need to figure out how to pay their bills without handouts. I'm a strong No. .... I can't believe we're doing this." ... "It's ludicrous to give this kind of money to them when they said most of it is for salaries. Remember, they are the people who brought you the warehouses all over the county. They told every one of these little municipalities back in Walt Dealtry's days, if you remember, to change their zoning and planning to allow what happened. And then in the future, we're like 'Oh my God, there's warehouses and cars and everything everywhere.' Who gave us that? The LVPC. ... They have a lot of reserves. We should have their reserves."

"For us to be so far off from Lehigh County is concerning to me," responded Council President Lori Vargo Heffner. She also told Kraft that some of the municipalities in his district rely on LVPC for planning.

Council member Jeff Warren, donning his Solomon costume, is willing to cut the baby in half. He is willing to give LVPC some of what it wants, but not all. 

In the end, a motion to sweeten the LVPC handout by $461,375 failed in a 4-3 vote. Council members Vargo Heffner, Brown, Jeff Corpora and Tom Giovanni voted Yes. Kraft, Warren and Kelly Keegan voted No. 

Expect to see another effort to provide this money to LVPC when the full Council meets on December 4.