Greetings, my fellow Northamptonians. Welcome to the February edition of 2024.

Finally, we can say we had snow! What a revelation. Still, I’m waiting on some blue skies, as we’ve certainly had an abundance of precipitation in January, be it rain or snow and everything in between.

I want to thank our public works department for keeping the streets passable and as safe as possible during our recent snow events. It’s been a few years since we’ve had any measurable snowfall, so it was good to see the efficiency of the crews still evident and the kids out with their sleds.

Also, despite all of the rainfall, the high-water levels of the Lehigh River have not thwarted the continuing construction of Cementon-Northampton Bridge. According to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the bridge construction is ahead of schedule and is still slated to open between the end of 2026 and early 2027 - and with no delays in traffic flow throughout the construction.

With the ever-increasing travel on Route 329, that’s welcome news.

As I mentioned earlier, the social media phase of the Northampton Hometown Heroes project continues to successfully move along under the leadership of Junior Councilman Mason Smolenak and Becky Wagner, class adviser. I can’t say enough good things about the students’ dedication toward making this phase such a success, as I look to launch the first Hero later this month. I’m sure you’ll be impressed, too!

Additionally, since we’ve been continuing to receive requests for Hometown Heroes banners, I will now take applications during the month of April. I know I mentioned March earlier, but due to all of the activity in the borough offices during March, April is a much better fit. Mea culpa. So please, get that military-style photograph ready and we’ll see you at borough hall in April.

Now, for the pain. Since you’ve probably already seen your 2024 borough tax bill and noticed an increase, yes, borough council did pass a 1-mill tax hike in December 2023. This translates to an increase of approximately $50 per household on average or an additional $200,000 in tax revenue for the borough.

Sure, it doesn’t sound like much, but as a fellow taxpayer, I know that, to many, it is. With many a fixed-income recipient or struggling family, any tax increase is a burden and certainly a quality-of-life issue. As a former borough councilman for 10 years, I can assure you no one on council takes a tax increase lightly.

Though Northampton does have one of the lowest property taxes in the county, that’s of little relief to those footing the bill. As well as borough Manager LeRoy Brobst and the department heads manage our finances, we are not immune from the rising cost of “doing business” in today’s world, riddled with inflation and cost increases in all areas.

Along with this stone-cold fact, this increase was also necessary due to the need to replace worn-out equipment and introduce new technologies into day-by-day borough operations. For one example, our police are now equipped with the latest bodycam technology for their safety and yours.

Then we have the unenviable task of replacing public works vehicles that are well beyond the usable years we anticipated. So, all in all, for public safety and community improvements beyond what the past budget could handle, this tax increase was a necessary imposition.

Do we stop looking into other areas for assistance such as federal, state or county funds or grants? No! In fact, I’ve had the pleasure to spend time this past month meeting with all of our local representatives to uncover as many funding sources as I could.

I want to thank state Rep. Zach Mako, R-183rd; state Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th; and Congresswoman Susan Wild’s District Deputy Megan Beste for taking the time to personally meet with me and discuss any viable funding stream for our borough in 2024 and beyond.

Of course, I will be passing this information down the line to Brobst and company, working with them to come up with a workable course of action to secure as much of this funding as possible. I can assure you, going forward, we have the support of all of our representatives in making, and moving along, these requests.

As much as I enjoyed the snowfall in January, I hope we have a mild winter the rest of the way so we can get an early start on all the springtime projects we have on the board.

You take care, and I’ll see you around town!