Allentown finance staff reports $154 million general fund revenue; earned income tax now largest revenue source

Miss Patel, finance staff for Allentown City, presented the committee with the year‑end and February monthly financial reports and highlighted revenue, expenditure, investment and project updates.

"We closed the general fund revenues with hundred and 54,000,000, and 68% of those revenues came from taxes," Patel said, adding that taxes include the city real estate tax, business privilege tax, deed/transfer tax and earned income tax (EIT). She reported EIT at $43,300,000, which exceeded property tax receipts of $39,000,000. "Last 2 years, it's been yes," Patel said when asked whether EIT had previously surpassed property tax.

Patel reported general fund expenditures closed at $145,000,000 against an adjusted budget of $157,000,000, noting personnel costs made up roughly 70 percent of expenditures at about $102,000,000. She said the city saw savings in services, charges, and materials and supplies, resulting in overall budgetary savings compared with the adjusted budget.

On liquidity and investments, Patel reported the general fund cash position at roughly $41,000,000 at year end and about $42,000,000 at the end of February. She said the city held a majority of investments in a local government investment trust she referred to as Plagit, with term investments of approximately $30,000,000 and roughly $6,500,000 in a prime (money‑market) account yielding about 4.69 percent APY. Patel said the city also keeps liquid balances at TD Bank for current expenditures; she reported TD Bank balances and cited an effective yield in the low‑to‑mid 3 percent range.

Patel provided numbers for other enterprise and special funds: the solid waste fund closed the year with about $17,000,000 in revenues and expenditures below budget by roughly 5 percent; the risk fund reported $36,000,000 in revenues with expenditures of about $33,600,000 and savings after curtailing some spending; the rental unit fund had roughly $3,200,000 in revenues and closed with expenditures near $2,900,000; the stormwater fund reported revenues near $6,100,000 with expenditures around $6,900,000; and the golf fund had approximately $2,500,000 in revenues. Patel also noted a new building code fund for 2025 among the funds tracked.

On federal recovery funds, Patel reported ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) account balances in committee materials: at one point she reported ARPA accounts at $22,400,000 and later reported ARPA cash at the end of the month as $20,600,000, with most of those funds invested similarly in Plagit term and prime accounts and a portion kept at TD Bank for liquidity.

Patel told the committee the city completed a liquid fuels audit for 2020–2023 with no findings and has begun the financial audit for 2024; she said auditors were on site and the city expects the audit to be completed during the summer. Patel also reported the city went live on March 18 with the Munis enterprise resource planning system for procurement and financial modules and that HR and payroll modules are planned for later in the year.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about EIT surpassing property tax; Patel confirmed EIT had been the larger revenue source for the last two years. There were no public comments recorded on the financial presentation.

The committee accepted the report and proceeded to closing remarks.