Northampton County Council Dec. 3 unanimously approved a no tax hike budget for 2021. The $440 million spending plan for next year, which Executive Lamont McClure first introduced Oct. 2, is 11 percent lower than this year’s budget. It comes at the end of over 20 hours of budget hearings. It keeps the tax rate at 11.8 mills, where it’s been for the past seven years. A home assessed at $75,000 will receive a tax bill next year for $885. The budget is also balanced.

After the vote, Council President Ron Heckman said, “Well, council, you can pat yourself on the back. You just passed a budget.”

Though council adopted some amendments to McClure’s original spending plan, they were minor. The only real bone of contention was DA Terry Houck’s $100,000 request for participation in Lehigh County’s Regional Intelligence and Investigation Center (RIIC).

At the final budget hearing Dec. 1, Nortty Council adopted Council member Lori Vargo-Heffner’s suggestion to trim that contribution by $50,000. Democrats Vargo-Heffner, Kevin Lott and Bill McGee supported this cut, along with Republicans John Cusick and Tom Giovanni. Opposed were Democrats Ron Heckman, Kerry Myers and Tara Zrinski.

Vargo-Heffner said she’s concerned with “continuing bi-county ventures” and noted the county just built a “beautiful forensic center.” She complained that municipalities who take advantage of the RIIC make no contributions. Lott added that he’d like to see the increase justified, and John Cusick suggested the DA could pay for it out of the drug forfeiture fund.

The RIIC has an annual budget of about $1.6 million, and Houck noted Lehigh County already pays the “lion’s share” of the expense.

The RIIC is primarily a source of intelligence. It is a mega data base from which investigators can review incident reports, investigations and data from numerous local, state and federal agencies. It uses this intelligence to solve crimes.

The newly constructed forensic center performs a completely different role than the RIIC. In addition to being a place to store human remains, it has the capacity to perform digital forensic tests that can help solve crime. It plays no role in gathering or disseminating intelligence.

Houck noted that our dependence on technology and the related intelligence that comes with it, grows daily. “People walk around with their life in their front pocket,” he said, in obvious reference to cell phones. This daily increase in information justifies the increased contribution. Houck dismissed the possibility of using drug forfeiture funds to pay for this venture, noting that state law requires that the money must be related to drugs. He added this is no bi-county venture because ongoing criminal activity knows no boundaries. He noted it’s unrealistic to expect a tiny borough like Roseto to help pay for a RIIC, but its police force benefits from it every day. Kerry Myers, who sponsored several forums on police community relations, said that the RIIC is needed especially for impoverished communities who feel the impact of crime more severely than those who live in more well-to-do areas. “He needs this to fight crime in my community,” noted Myers. “They may not all be property owners, but they’re innocent people.”

Though Houck explained that increased technology justifies the increased contribution, Lott continued to complain about the increased cost.

“How much money is a life worth?” asked Kerry Myers.

For five members of county council, the answer appeared to be $50,000.

But that was Dec. 1. Two days later, Ccouncil members restored the funding. Vargo-Heffner was the sole Council member still willing to reduce Houck’s request.

Houck made clear that the $100,000 requested is the “amount of funding that I feel is important to keep us safe. ... That’s really what this is all about.” Since the inception of home rule in 1978, no county council has ever turned down a budget request from the district attorney.

Council members John Cusick and Kevin Lott had suggested that Houck use the drug forfeiture fund to pay for the RIIC, but that is arguably illegal. Under state law, a District Attorney “shall not anticipate future forfeitures or proceeds therefrom in in adoption and approval of the budget for the district attorney.” Council member Peg Farraro made this point during the discussion.

Vargo-Heffner, who is up for re-election next year, denied she was cutting Houck’s budget. “I’m not telling you how to fight crime,” she snarked. “I’m not trying to be bat girl.”

Houck disputed Vargo-Heffner’s denial. “I asked for $100,000, and that is not in my budget,” he retorted.

Council spent most of the meeting discussing $50,000, which is 0.01 percent of a $440 million budget.

This is the third budget in a row that Executive McClure has proposed that calls for no tax hike while fully funding open space. No county contribution was needed at Gracedale.