When Allentown's city fathers (and one mother) adopted Mayor Ed Pawlowski's "no tax increase" budget, they found another source of revenue, deciding to raise the annual rental inspection fee from $16 to a whopping $75 per unit. Naturally, landlords will be tempted to raise rents to cover this modest, 468%, increase. For beleaguered residents, this is in addition to climbing PPL rates. Even HUD units will be inspected.Scott Armstrong, who delighted everyone yesterday by complaining about a fellow civic activist, is no less circumspect in condemning this increase.
"That means every landlord must raise the rent of every unit in order to cover the expense of the higher fees. In effect, Ed Pawlowski's unit fee increase is a tax on Allentown's poor. When Ed rode into town as an advocate for low income housing, people took him at his word that he was sincere. Time and experience have proven he wasn't."
At $75 per unit fee, the Queen City's 22,000 units will produce revenue of $1,650,000. The cost of the program, even with additional staff, is just $1,093,701. So the City will generate around $550 thousand by squeezing the people who can least afford it.
