Zrinski's Attempts to Minimize Grand Jury Report in Defensive and Evasive News Conference

Immediately after last week's release of a 44-page Grand Jury report calling for reforms at Gracedale, NorCo Executive Zrinski conducted her own high-noon news conference from inside the acoustically challenged rotunda of the courthouse. Her newly-appointed Continuum of Care Director and Gracedale's Administrator stood by her as she said the District Attorney's investigation should be met with "seriousness, transparency and resolve." While her resolve is beyond question, she has been far from transparent. She actually tried to have the report sealed (more about that later) so that the public would never see it. Moreover, instead of treating the probe with gravity, she minimized it and was both defensive and evasive when responding to questions. 

She started by tugging on heartstrings instead of facts. noting that Gracedale had cared for her mother and provided excellent care when Zrinski was a member of County Council. She has now told this story many times as a member of County Council and several times as Executive. I'm sure her mother did receive a high level of care because, after all, she was the mother of member of County Council. Funny thing, Gracedale's Administrator at that time was Jennifer Stewart, who has since been scapegoated for all the problems. In fact, right after praising Gracedale for looking after her mom, Zrinski said that many of its problem501c3 s came while Stewart was Administrator. 

Her solutions? She's issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a feasibility study on her "continuum of care" expansion. She's established a non-profit 501c3 to receive philanthropic support. She added that she would strengthen executive oversight with the hiring of a Continuum of Care Director whose background is therapeutic recreation and has no experience in nursing home administration.  

She also claimed to be improving communication and transparency. It must have been hard to talk about transparency with a straight face after her unsuccessful attempt to prevent the public from seeing the Grand Jury report. The improved communications have consisted mostly of feel-good stories about things like chair volleyball and a luau.   

When it came time for questions, WFMZ-TV69 had concerns about what steps were being taken to address how police should respond to 911 calls, which can be baseless when coming from residents with cognitive issues. This issue came to a head well over a year ago when 911 calls about an exorcist nurse were being ignored, both by police and even by Gracedale nurses. They claimed falsely to have checked on the matter but did nothing until after a third 911 call. 

A year later, Zrinski's response was "I don't believe I can address that right now." She then slammed Upper Nazareth police. "I'm sorry that answer could not be more clear, but it is ... um ... working with the Upper Nazareth police force has been somewhat challenging."

More than a year has passed since this incident, yet there still is no protocol on how to respond to 911 calls from a facility with 500 elderly and residents? 

While WFMZ-TV69 attempted to decipher exactly what Zrinski had just said, I had a question of my own. I pointed out that, in 2023, Medicare issued 3 minor deficiencies when Jennifer Stewart was at the helm. In 2024, there were just two. But in 2025, once Michelle Morton took the reins, there were 14 deficiency reports for serious shortcomings that extended well beyond a mentally ill nurse. They included residents who wandered off, poor security, physical assaults and failure to provide care that had been prescribed by doctors.

"Under these circumstances, how can you possibly justify keeping Michelle Morton as the Administrator of Gracedale, especially when her own testimony indicates that nurses like to eat their young?"

Zrinski: "I think you're assuming that everything in that report is accurate and true."

Me: "That is her testimony."

Zrinski: "I understand her testimony."

Me: "I understand that everything is true because those are the deficiency reports that are on the record. They're on record. Department of Health deficiency reports. Gracedale has paid significant fines as a result of these deficiency reports. There are 14 reports ...."

Zrinski: "I understand what you're saying, Mr. O'Hare, if you let me finish the question, I will respond to you. So there's an admissions process and there are individuals who are admitted years before [Morton] got there."

She went on to blame the McClure administration for increasing census. And she failed to acknowledge it, but the Grand Jury report shows that Morton was all about accepting new residents no matter how unsuitable they might be. Morton actually placed Jennifer Stewart, the Admissions Director, under a mandate to increase census, and even would override Stewart's admission denials. She slammed an "admissions director who let anybody in," which has been a common theme at Gracedale. Morton has managed to make the former Administrator, Jennifer Stewart, a scapegoat for her own admissions errors.  These errors were the result of a previous executive, Lamont McClure, who wanted quantity over quality.  Yet Zrinski insisted that Morton "has my confidence." 

Transparent Zrinski then went on to say she'd rather have questions from someone other than me. That's OK. But I was not done. 

Zrinski went on to slam DA Steve Baratta for bringing Gracedale "out in the public forum. ... This has been a public discussion in nearly every election cycle. Gracedale has been a political football. Sell it, save it. Sell it, save it, sell it, save it are always the priorities of candidates running. I want to take that out of the political sphere and make it more about care and treatment. It shouldn't be an open discussion that we're arguing about all the time. These are people's lives. These are people's jobs."

Me: "There are no county offices up this year. So where do you get the idea that this is some form of political football?"

Zrinski: "I said, in the history, it has been a political football. How many different rallies have you gone to or how many different discussions?"

Me: "Right now we're talking about what's going on at Gracedale, how we can improve it, what's wrong with it ...'

Zrinski: "Mr. O'Hare, I think you know better than anybody else that there are motivations that are political for anybody to put a report out about Gracedale."

Me: "So you are saying that DA Baratta had a political motive?"

Zrinski: "I'm not suggesting it. I'm saying it could possibly exist."

Me: "You're saying it could possibly exist?"

Zrinski: "Sure."

Me: "But it could also be that he genuinely desires to see Gracedale improve."

Zrinski: "He has no authority or experience to make recommendations for Gracedale."

Me: "You say he has no authority or experience. What is your background in administration.?"

Zrinski: "I am not making these recommendations. I am following the recommendations of other individuals who know how nursing homes run."

She was talking over me, but at that time I was pointing out that her newly appointed Continuum of Care Director and Administrator have backgrounds in therapeutic recreation.

Me: "Why did you speak against an oversight committee for Gracedale? When you're saying you want to be transparent, why would you oppose an oversight committee?"

Zrinski: "I'm not opposed to an oversight committee. What I was guarding was county council's overreach. When you create a continuum of care department, you're supposed to create a continuum of care committee. That should be the level of oversight. And it has four members on it."

Me: "Is County Council the governing body?"

Zrinski: "Yes."

Zrinski, who is used to bloviating at length, decided to cut the presser short. 

Tomorrow, I'll tell you how the court reacted to Zrinski's failed attempt to keep you from seeing the Grand Jury report.

McClure's Histrionic Reaction to Grand Jury Report

On Friday, I told you about an Investigating Grand Jury Report detailing serious resident safety concerns and poor leadership at Gracedale. Earlier today, I told you about NorCo Executive Tara Zrinski's defensive and evasive reaction. But that's nothing compared to former Executive Lamont McClure's histrionics. They are attached to the report itself (linked above).  McClure endorsed and contributed $10,000 to Zrinski's campaign to succeed him. He is currently employed by NorCo as an assistant Solicitor.

McClure calls the Grand Jury Report a "politically motivated hit job launched on [him] at a time when the current District Attorney believed he could damage [McClure's] Congressional campaign." He fails to explain how this report, published months after he came in third in a four-way primary, was somehow able to torpedo his Congressional ambitions. 

McClure also contends that Baratta "seeks to minimize his own incompetence and petty corruption as District Attorney." 

He calls the 14 deficiencies found in 2025, while he was Executive, "isolated incidents." 14 deficiencies in one year are "isolated incidents"? No, that's a pattern, and it's one that resulted in the home's license getting reduced from Regular to Provisional I status. When the home continued to decline, it was reduced again to Provisional II status. 

After attempting to minimize 14 deficiencies as "isolated incidents," McClure insists that "there is no demonstrated causal connection" that they were caused by the use of agency nurses or poor staffing levels. 

Excuse me? The exorcist nurse that prompted the grand jury investigation was herself an agency nurse. And at least one of the elopements was the result of Gracedale's failure to provide 1 on 1 care for an at-risk individual. 

Perhaps the most disappointing feature of McClure's response to the Grand Jury report was his attempt to savage and scapegoat Jennifer Stewart, the person he himself appointed Administrator. This is precisely what he did to County Administrator Charles Dertinger, after a botched election. She testified that she was increasing census pursuant to his directions and that current Administrator Michelle Morton actually reversed some of her denials. In paragraph after paragraph, McClure attacks the honesty and integrity of a loyal county employee who started as a CNA and worked her way up. He attacked a person known to have herself spent long evenings herself at Gracedale when the home was short-handed and who was willing to do the dirty work, including the changing of bed pans. He blames her for wanting to increase census but told County Council he made her his Admissions Director "because there hasn't been a county contribution [to the nursing home] from the general fund for many years. ... One of the things that we think is necessary in order to continue to be viable as a county-owned and operated institution is to continue not to have county contributions coming from the general fund..... Jennifer Stewart is an expert at getting the census up."

What he failed to tell County Council at that time was that there was a simmering crisis in which monies that had been set aside for retention bonuses were spent instead on other Gracedale expenditures. What he also failed to tell Council was that Gracedale actually did get a county contribution of $9.9 million in 2024, a point highlighted by the annual independent audit. 

So when McClure told County Council that there had been no county contribution in many years, was he lying? 

It appears that Jennifer Stewart, an unusual and special kind of person who actually care about the residents, was scapegoated and sent to Admissions. 

Investigating Grand Jury Releases Report Raising Serious Resident Safety Concerns and Poor Leadership at Gracedale

Yesterday, NorCo A Steve Baratta released the results and recommendations of a 44-page Grand Jury Report* concerning resident safety issues at Gracedale, the county-run nursing home. The grand jury found serious weaknesses in the way that the long-term care facility has cared for its residents, and jurors felt the gravity of these problems warranted public attention and corrective action. No single person was blamed. The report instead points to a combination of questionable management, the use of outside agency nurses, failure to provide appropriate care, poor security and a lack of accountability. 19 Grand Jurors voted to file the report, with another three absent. 

Interestingly, Executive Tara Zrinski, who likes to call herself the very model of a modern major Executive, actually tried to have the report sealed or quashed without the public ever seeing a word. She failed. That's another story, and I'll fill you in on that next week. 

The genesis of this Grand Jury probe was a Gracedale agency nurse who on 6/23/25 was attempting to perform an exorcism on one of three residents who share a room. Multiple 911 calls had to be made over 30 minutes before Upper Nazareth Tp police responded. In the second call, a nursing supervisor told 911 she had already checked the situation, (Pges 13-14). In a third, a nursing supervisor told 911 she was going to "take [the complaining resident's] phone away or something." Police finally responded when a nursing supervisor herself personally witnessed an agency nurse who wouldn't let anyone in or out of the room. (Pge 14). When Officer Zach Dugan arrived on scene, he could see that the agency nurse, festooned in PPE gear, had her hand and fingers inside the resident's mouth. She indicated the resident had "demons inside of her" and they needed to come out, along with a considerable amount of blood.  

Baratta said that the victim of this attack was severely injured and never recovered. She died not long after the attack, but from unrelated causes.

The agency nurse has been charged with a litany of crimes, and that matter is still pending. 

After this incident, DA Baratta sought and was granted permission to conduct a Grand Jury investigation, which was headed by Deputy DA Bill Blake and Detective Brad Jones. Baratta himself questioned Gracedale Administrator Michelle Morton. 

At a news conference announcing the report, Baratta warned reporters to expect "some pushback." That's putting it mildly. Not only was Baratta accused of interfering with the Executive branch, but he's also been accused of having a political motive. "My response to this is, read the report," he said.  

I did. It's devastating. 

Deficiencies. - It consists of a factual documentation of 14 state Department of Health citations in 2025, all of which occurred under the tenure of Gracedale Administrator Michelle Moton. This is substantially more than 3 minor inspection deficiencies in 2023 and just 2 in 2024, when Gracedale was administered by Jennifer Stewart. (Pges. 5, 6-12).  

These reports chronicle assaults that extend beyond the exorcist nurse and include resident-on-resident violence resulting in injuries.  

They include elopements, which are runaways by residents who've been identified as incapable of caring for themselves. One of them involved a man who was gone for more than 24 hours and was located by Upper Nazareth Police sleeping outside a convenience store. Another involved a wheelchair bound double amputee who was tooling along the local roads with no place to go. There was even a fellow who left Gracedale to visit his girlfriend at Fox's Gentleman's club. He was found in Moore Tp. 

Some of these elopements were supposed to be under 1 to 1 supervision.

They include failure to provide the medication or rehabilitative care prescribed by doctors. One resident with partial paralysis missed 19 days of prescribed exercises. Medication carts have been left unsecured.

Read the report. 

Witnesses. - The Grand Jury report includes summaries of testimony elicited from witnesses, including the officers who responded to the exorcist. Officer Clinton Wambold, a former Deputy Sheriff, said that Gracedale staff made "little or no effort" to stop the exorcist when she was assaulting the Gracedale resident. He also noted that Gracedale staff disposed of or cleaned all the clothing or gowns involved in the assault, making it impossible for him to collect physical evidence. (Pge. 19). Officer Danielle Petrucci testified of one assault involving two residents. The aggressor was supposed to be under 1 on 1 supervision but was not. The victim of that assault suffered a cognitive and physical decline, is now bedridden and unable to interact with others.  (Pge 20). She also testified that members of the nursing staff were found sleeping at their desks while police were present. (Pge. 22).

Michelle Morton, Gracedale's Administrator, was examined by Baratta. Affinity Health Services prepared a county council funded report in 2023 that conducted an analysis of the problems at Gracedale, but she told council on November 6 that she had never read the report. She still had failed to read it when she was questioned by Baratta on 12/30/25. 

With respect to the deficiencies found under her watch in 2025, "Morton's response to the claims was that an inspection is only a moment in time and not a reflection that overall, things were poor. She appeared to minimize the documented infractions, as well as her role in the prevention of those matters. She also denied that staffing shortages contributed to the documented deficiencies."  (Pge. 27)  

Her plan for recruiting new employees? Staff development and training initiatives. And she likes committees. She certainly seemed to accept that nurses can bully each other, telling Baratta that "nurses eat their young." (Pge. 29)

Jennifer Stewart, Gracedale's former Administrator, worked at Gracedale from 2005 until she resigned in 2026. She started as a CNA and worked her way up until she was appointed Administrator in 2019. As she approached retirement age, she decided to step back into her former role as Director of Admissions so she could act as a mentor to her replacement. When she attempted to help Morton, she was rebuffed. (Pge. 37). 

Although she had never been reprimanded in any way during her tenure at Gracedale, that changed when Morton arrived. Instead of asking for help, Morton gave Stewart a "Program Improvement Plan" mandating her to increase census to 525-530. Morton instructed Stewart to admit everyone. "Morton also usurped Stewart's authority as Director of Admissions by reviewing, and in many cases, overriding admission denials in cases where Stewart believed that the resident was not an appropriate candidate for Gracedale." (Pge. 38). She felt she was being micromanaged and decided to resign and accepted a position as Administrator at a nursing home in Bethlehem. 

"Stewart is extremely knowledgeable in the field of nursing home administration, and it is clear that Gracedale benefitted from her knowledge and leadership. She believes that Gracedale was thriving under the management of Premiere Healthcare, although she feels it took a step back under the administration of ray Soto. Stewart strongly believes that the prior county administration failed the residents at Gracedale by canceling the partnership with Premiere Healthcare, by forcing an increase in census at the expense of patient safety, and by forcing reliance on outside nursing agencies. It is clear to the Grand Jury that Stewart truly cares for the wellbeing of the residents at Gracedale and served the county effectively when she was Gracedale's Administrator."

The Grand Jury recommends that (1) Gracedale move away from agency nursing to county-employed personnel; (2) revise policies concerning administration; (3) Beef up security; (4) create a liaison or ombudsman with specialized training in proper administration of a nursing home; (5) require supervisors to physically check each 911 call and document each matter; (6) establish in-house training for CNAs; and (7) establish a protocol with Upper Nazareth police concerning 911 calls.  

Baratta made clear that he is making no recommendation that Gracedale be sold. 

"However, we have to also remember that government is designed to provide services and services to the medically needy, vulnerable, elderly people that need assisted care, needs to be reliable and safe. They cannot provide for their own safety. They rely on us to provide that care. So, my hope is that these recommendations, and the publication of these issues, will further spur discussion and debate, in county government, and in the community, and that in the long run, we're going to be able to make Gracedale a safer, more productive personal care facility. And be successful into the future."

Right after Baratta had finished with us, we sauntered down the hall for yet another press conference being conducted by Executive Tara Zrinski, who had tried unsuccessfully to suppress the Grand Jury's report. So much for transparency.

I'll tell you about what she had to say on Monday in response to some tough questioning by your truly. You can also read her attempt to quash the Grand Jury report because it's attached to the report. You can also read former Executive Lamont McClure's bashing of just about everyone who isn't named Lamont McClure.  He calls the report a political hit job designed to ruin his congressional bid even though the report was not released until well after the primary in which he finished 3rd of 4. 

Finally, I'll fill you in on how the court handled Zrinski's attempt to suppress a Grand Jury report being released precisely to provide the transparency sorely needed at Gracedale.     

*) You can read the entire report on my Google Drive. I tried to upload the Grand Jury Report to Scribd, but that third party hosting site is currently inoperable. 

NorCo DA Baratta To Release Grand Jury Report About Gracedale

At 11 am, NorCo DA Steve Baratta will unveil the findings of a Grand Jury report about Gracedale. He had previously told County Council the report's focus would be "issues of patient safety that we were made aware of over the past year."  

The home has been the focus of some bizarre happenings, from an agency nurse who attempted to perform an exorcism on a resident, a substance-abusing resident who was pocketing pain pills and several residents who wondered off and are retuned by police. 

Gracedale is the only county-owned nursing home in the state with a Provisional II license. It also has been flagged by Medicare for abuse. 

On the bright side, the home has been deficiency-free in five DOH (Dep't of Health) visits to the home since May 14. (The home has been visited 14 times by DOH this year).  

Following Baratta's news conference, Executive Tara Zrinski will issue her own comments. She will include her newly appointed Continuum of Care Director, who himself acknowledged during the confirmation process that he has no training in nursing. 

The Great Alan Jennings Responds to Toy Factory Story

The last time I spoke to the Great Alan Jennings was during the late Summer or early Fall of 2018. He made a point of telling me he was calling me from the beach, which I thought a tad odd for someone who proclaims himself as the voice of the voiceless. In our brief conversation, he churlishly berated me in a profane-ridden tirade over my coverage of Upside Allentown's corrupt facade grant program, in which insiders were awarding grants to themselves. Upside Allentown then operated under the rather large umbrella of Community Action LV, whose biggest accomplishment in recent years has been to change its name. Jennings, its former Executive Director, had responded to my inquiries and did have to amend one of his tax returns, but was nevertheless upset with me for giving a voice to two people who would otherwise have been voiceless. He got ugly in that call. 

Fast forward to the present. I recently wrote a story about Allentown's Toy Factory, in which Jennings plays a minor role as a member of Allentown's Redevelopment Authority (ARA). This vacant factory was purchased by the ARA in 2022 for $400,000. Hasshan Batts, a two-time convicted drug dealer who is nevertheless heralded by the increasingly irrelevant PBS as a hometown hero, proposed turning it into a mosque, and nearly succeeded. 

Nothing much happened since then until earlier this year, when the ARA finally got around to publishing a formal Request for Proposals (RFP), and the main purpose was to provide affordable or workforce housing. 

That's what Allentown developer Nat Hyman does, and without sticking his hand in the taxpayer's pocket for grants or LERTAs or TIFs. And he's been successful at it, having completed 41 projects with 1,480 apartments over the years. He submitted a plan to turn the defunct factory into 20 apartments with on-site parking. He also offered to pay $410,000 for the properties with no contingencies. 

Another developer, Warren Lim, gave the ARA two options. The first would be 6 apartments, a daycare and no on-sire parking. The second would be 12 apartments with no on-site parking. The ARA would lose between $50,000 to $100,000. And Lim's offer is contingent upon his ability to get a loan for $1.39 million. 

This seems like a no-brainer, right? But this is Allentown, land of pay-to-play, a former Mayor who went to jail for public corruption, and a city Council that very nearly ignored state law a few years ago to appoint hometown hero and convicted felon Hasshan Batts as Mayor. 

After a private meeting with LIM, the ARA has tentatively decided to go with him. Jennings actually insisted that Hyman should apologize to ARA. 

Allentown developer Nat Hyman has sued. That's another thing he does. 

This case is making its way through the legal jungle, but Jennings hates any form of criticism. He is more accustomed to adulation. He also occasionally pens condescending op-eds railing about numerous topics, including how to solve the affordable housing crisis. Hypocritically, when he had an opportunity to provide 20 affordable rental units in Allentown, he said No.  

His real schtick over the years has been to threaten banks and wealthy developers unless they give him money. When they do, he gives them cover like he has done with the NIZ. His approach has helped some people over the years, but there's no denying that his shakedowns are nothing short of legal extortion. 

He would have done well in the Mafia. 

In my Toy Factory story, Jennings was unable to take the public criticism. Like so many public figures, he is incredibly thin-skinned. 

Here's a few excerpts from that story, including what people said and how he reacted. 

Jennings once again proves he is the north end of a south bound jackass.

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

This stinks and doesn't surprise me that Jennings was involved!

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

All you have to say is “Alan Jennings” and you know the process is corrupt. That guy made a lifetime of fleecing people out of their money and doing nothing for the community. He thinks he’s important and that people admire him. Little does he know that everyone thinks he is do nothing asshole !

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

Ok what the hell is Alan Jennings doing in that room? I swear, I have never seen someone try harder to remain relevant. Alan, you're retired. Enjoy it already.

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

There’s no bigger blowhard in the world than Alan Jennings. If you ask him, he knows everything ! A legend in his own mind.

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

Nat is a decent guy- on the other hand, Alan Jennings has been a scrubber his entire adult life- I wish he would just go away!

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

Hasn’t the First presbyterian Church of Allentown already erected a monument for Alan?

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

Jennings: Anonymity is cowardice.

Me: That is more often than not true but they could be cowards who are still telling the truth. You, on the other hand, have been behind nearly every major mistake in Allentown, from your rabid support of Fed Ed to your role in the facade grants, and don’t get me started on other communities. Yet you think every time you fart. People should applaud.

Jennings: Speaking of cowards, it's pretty pathetic that you won't publish my response to the paranoid schizophrenics. And you take cheap shots knowing we can't comment on the substance of the lawsuit.

I know you're too smart to believe your bull shit. You know damn well that my salary was among the lowest in the nonprofit sector. You know damn well that I declined raises. You know damn well how modest my home is. You know damn well that I received countless awards from groups throughout the Lehigh Valley, from the Conference of Churches to the Chambers of Commerce, from the US Marine Detachment to the CPA's. You may not know that my papers are in the archives of the Lehigh County Historical Society and that I was inducted into the National Community Action Foundation Hall of Fame. Surely you can''t believe that all of these people are members of Sinister Creeps and Satan Worshipers of America's Lehigh Valley Chapter.

Despite my retirement I continue to volunteer my time working on a range of groups' agendas, including housing, the arts, children and community development.

You, on the other hand, have, for decades, been a mean-spirited loser, a malicious liar who takes pleasure in trying to smear good people trying to do good things for their community, trashing their motives because you hate that people could care for others if for no better reason than that it makes them feel like decent human beings.

So, come after me, you pathetic SOB, remind us what a small, ugly antidote you are for all that is good in our world.

Me: Alan, I have published every comment you submitted, from you patting yourself on the back to the vulgarities. Aren't you special!

Zrinski Plan to Save Northampton Boro Senior Center Falls Short

Back in July, NorCo Exec Tara Zrinski told County Council she was working on a "sustainable operating plan" to save the Northampton Senior Center. Earlier in the year, cuts in federal and state funding had already resulted in the closure of a dozen senior centers across Pennsylvania have already closed, with 40 more on the chopping blck..

She suggested that an autonomous community group could provide volunteers for a newly organized nonprofit like Neighbors in Need. to provide a safe setting fand social interaction or seniors. 

Her efforts fell short. 

"We tried," she lamented at last week's county council meeting. "We tried to make an agreement to provide a grant to the senior center in Northampton Borough. We even got matching funds and additional state support from Senator Nick Miller to operate one independently while hiring an individual to oversee the senior programming. But the Grace UCC Church voted the proposal down because "the complexity of getting grants and running a senior center would be too much responsibility," even if Northampton Borough agreed to operate it. 

"Good intentions often don't land where we want them to," she said. 

I believe Zrinski could find the funding for Northampton by merging two senior centers on south side Bethlehem that are within a stone's throw from each other. One is located at the Rooney building, and the other at the Hispanic center. At a time when we should be more inclusive and have even established a Human Relations Commission, why would we want to have separate senior centers for those who speak Spanish and those who don't? With the money saved by this merger, it might be possible to continue the senior center in Northampton.

Zrinski Warns NorCo Council a Tax Hike Next Year is Likely

At last week's NorCo Council meeting, Executive Tara Zrinski warned County Council that a tax hike is "increasingly likely" next year.

She acknowledged that neither taxpayers nor elected officials want a tax increase but said the county must balance the desire to keep taxes low with the responsibility to maintain services, support employees, and address long-deferred infrastructure needs.

She noted that the county’s millage rate has remained essentially flat at approximately 10.8 mills for many years, going all the way back to former Executive John Stoffa's first budget, in which he proposed a half-mill tax hike for a "pay as you go" open space program. After Stoffa, a one-mill tax hike was adopted when John Brown was Executive but was knocked back down to 10.8 mills when Brown was succeeded by Lamont McClure.

One of Zrinski's priorities will be to provide a meaningful cost-of-living raise to employees dealing with higher costs for groceries, utilities, healthcare and housing. She argued that competitive compensation is necessary to attract and retain employees. She highlighted particularly low wages among some county employees, including clerical positions paying approximately $32,000 annually and aide positions paying approximately $27,000. She also noted that employee benefits can cost approximately $21,000–$23,000 per employee, meaning the cost of benefits can approach the employee’s actual wages. "Wages have remained relatively stagnant, and for that, with the juxtaposition of the rising cost, we need to do something," she asserted.   

She also acknowledged that there's a real problem correctional staffing and the "culture" at the jail, which I believe can be translated to poor morale. She added that the Civil War era lock-up is deteriorating and the county needs to decide whether to continue throwing money at it or just build a new one.

She also slammed the 2026 budget she inherited, which she insists "left important needs unfunded," including the retirement funds, Gracedale, the jail and even the Sheriff's office. 

While pledging to keep the tax hike as low as possible, "We can't keep deferring investments in the people, buildings, equipment and systems our residents rely on. A responsible budget means making tough choices now." 

A tax hike is also being considered in Lehigh County.