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 more than 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.

Though council adopted some amendments to McClure’s original spending plan, the revisions were minor. The only real bone of contention was county District Attorney 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, Northampton County 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 is concerned with “continuing bicounty ventures” and noted the county just built a “beautiful forensic center.” She complained municipalities who take advantage of the RIIC make no contributions. Lott added he would like to see the increase justified, and 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 database 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 dismissed the possibility of using drug forfeiture funds to pay for this venture, noting state law requires the money must be related to drugs.

Council members ultimately approved the full amount requested by Houck. Vargo-Heffner was the sole council member still wishing to reduce Houck’s request.

Houck made clear 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.

This is the third budget in a row McClure has proposed that calls for no tax hike while fully funding open space.

No county contribution was needed at Gracedale.