Who Gets City of Easton's Top Pensions?

To fund pensions, Easton City Council hiked the earned income tax for commuters working in the city. The Express Times reports on some of the biggest pensions it will help pay for.

The City of Easton pays out more than $4 million a year in pensions for retired police, firefighters and non-uniform employees and their beneficiaries, according to a report by the Express Times. The story lists the top 10 city pension earners.  City pensions came under scrutiny during the recent debate over whether Easton City Council should increase the earned income tax on commuters by .75 percent in order to help fund the pensions. City Council approved the tax increase on non-residents who work in the city earlier this month. The increase was opposed by Northampton County Council. County Controller Steve Barron said the tax would affect about 800 employees and generate about $250,000.  Easton Councilman Roger Ruggles was among those …

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Easton Approves Commuter Tax Hike

Easton City Council votes 6-1 to approve a higher tax for people who commute to work into the city.

After months of an ongoing debate, Easton City Council approved an increase to the city's "commuter tax." The term refers to the earned income tax for people who work in Easton but aren't residents of the city. Those workers had been paying a 1 percent tax, but will now begin paying 1.75 percent.  Wednesday's vote increases the earned income tax for non-resident workers from 1 percent to 1.75 percent. The money earned from that increase will help the city pay its pension costs, projected at $1.8 million for next year. The vote was 6-1, with Councilman Jeff Warren casting the only "no" vote. "I will be voting no because I don’t think every single option was looked at," said Warren. Warren had written a letter to the editor -- published …

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Letters to the Editor

Councilman: Commuter Tax is Not the Answer

In a letter to the editor, an Easton city councilman explains why he thinks a proposed increase to the commuter tax is bad for local government.

The following letter to the editor was submitted by Easton City Councilman Jeff Warren. When it comes to government finances, we hear the catchphrase all the time – we need to do more with less.   These words are uttered from public officials in the federal government to our local school board members.  This is also painfully true in millions of households across America as we continue to see costs rise and wages plateau.  Settling for the same ol’, same ol’ just isn’t working anymore when darker financial pictures are on the horizon, especially when it comes to local government’s public pensions. Earlier this year, my City Council colleagues and I were presented with a proposal that would raise the commuter tax on all non-residents that …

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Easton Officials Defend Commuter Tax

City needs to prosper for other communities to do well, argues Councilman Roger Ruggles.

After two weeks of battling over a proposed commuter tax increase in public and the press, the city of Easton and Northampton County made peace Monday night. That doesn't mean that Easton won't be approving the earned income tax, a 1.75 percent levy aimed at people who work in the city but live elsewhere, a group that includes close to 1,000 county employees. But County Executive John Stoffa told City Council that he wants to work with Easton and other municipalities in lowering the pension costs which are the driving force behind the tax increase. Stoffa suggested a meeting with state legislators to discuss pension reform. "We've never done that in the history of the years I’ve been in government," he said. He also suggested that it's …

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5 Things to Know Today, July 16

Easton's Commuter Tax hearing arrives, the school board meets, and more...

Good morning everyone. A new work week is underway, which means a new "Five Things." 1. The city will hold a public meeting on its proposed commuter tax tonight at 6 p.m. on the sixth floor of City Hall. 2. The Easton Area School Board will hold its regular meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the district offices on Bushkill Drive in Forks Township. 3. The Nurture Nature Center presents Green Visions, an art show that explores "our sustainable future through humor, fantasy, wisdom and wit." It opens Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. 4. It looks like Tyler Magyar won the Super Mario Bros tournament at the Game Gallery, which we wrote about last week. 5. Today is July 16. The world's first parking meter was installed on this day in 1935 in Oklahoma City…

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Commuters to Easton: Don't Tax Us

Some commuters have already written to Easton about its proposed commuter tax.

The city of Easton will host a meeting Monday night to discuss a proposed commuter tax increase. But some commuters have already weighed in on the tax, via e-mails presented to council at its meeting last week. City officials say they need the tax to cover $1.35 million of a projected $1.85 million shortfall in pension obligations. The increase would tax people who work -- but don't live -- in Easton at a rate of 1.75 percent, instead of the current 1 percent. "Enacting this tax would likely encourage surrounding areas to tax Easton residents who work in other areas," wrote Brenda Cahill of Bethlehem Township. She said that she works and shops in Easton, but worried she would cease spending money in the city if the tax was enacted. Upper …

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Panto: County Wrong On Commuter Tax

"The county can continue to threaten to leave and I say 'Go ahead,'" Easton's mayor says.

Easton's mayor ripped Northampton County Council Wednesday night for its resolution opposing the city's proposed commuter tax. "The county can continue to threaten to leave and I say 'Go ahead,'" said Mayor Sal Panto Jr. about comments made at the July 5 county council meeting. At that meeting, county council passed a non-binding resolution urging the City Council to reject the increase. "Frankly, the City gets very, very little from hosting the county prison, the county administration building because the employees only get a half hour lunch (and can’t patronize local businesses)," Panto said. The city is proposing raising the commuter tax on all non-residents that work in the city from 1 to 1.75 percent. Currently, the city gets no …

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County to Easton: Reject Commuter Tax

Northampton County Council says proposed Easton commuter tax is unfair to county workers.

Northampton County Council has approved a resolution asking the city of Easton to reject a proposed commuter tax. Easton hopes to use the money generated by the tax to pay its pension costs. But county officials say the tax -- which would levy a 1.75 percent fee to people who commute into, but don't live in, the city -- is unfair to county employees.  "To tax employees for someone else's pension is a tough pill to swallow," said county Executive John Stoffa. County Controller Steve Barron said the tax would affect about 800 employees, and generate roughly $250,000. The resolution was proposed by Council President John Cusick, who lives in Williams Township. He said that earlier in the day, he'd been reading the Declaration of Independence…

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County to Take Up Easton Commuter Tax Thursday

Northampton County Council is expected to vote on a resolution rejecting Easton's proposed commuter tax.

When Northampton County Council meets Thursday night, one of the things it's expected to vote on is a resolution condemning Easton's proposed commuter tax. As proposed by the city, the 1.75 percent tax will be imposed on anyone who works in the city but lives somewhere else. The city has said it needs to use the income generated from the tax to pay for rising pension costs*. The county's resolution argues that the tax is unfair to commuters "during the most difficult economic times in recent memory," and that it will drive companies away from Easton. The county isn't the first government body to speak out against the tax. Forks Township expressed its displeasure with the proposal back in April.   *An earlier version of this story said the …

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