Budget presentations aren’t usually emotional affairs, but Phillips Armstrong was making his final one Thursday as Lehigh County executive and choked up a bit at the outset.
It quickly turned into an upbeat presentation, however. Armstrong said the “no fluff” budget would keep the county tax rate at 3.78 mills. That amounts to $1,025 a year in a property taxes for the owner of a home valued the county’s median price of $271,400.
It’s the seventh time in eight years the budget hasn’t called for a tax hike. Armstrong credited county staff for wrangling the budget into something lean but effective.
“We did our job. We did the job our taxpayers put us in office to do,” he said as he presented the $544 million spending plan at the county government center.
However, Armstrong set a large picture of an elephant in front of the podium to illustrate what he called “the elephant in the room” — a state budget impasse that, if it continues, could force the county to dip into its $25 million stabilization fund to keep programs going.
The fund would only last through September, however. This week, Armstrong and county Commissioners Geoff Brace and Jeffrey Dutt co-signed a letter to the General Assembly calling on the body to pass a budget. The county relies on state reimbursement in funding veterans’ affairs, mental health, substance abuse recovery, aging and adult services, children and youth programs and more.
“We do not want to get to the point where we have to curtail programs,” Armstrong said. “Will we have to borrow money in a month or two? We don’t know.”
The 2026 budget would add a judge to bring the number of county judges to 11 to help manage the high volume of cases.
The district attorney’s office would add two administrative positions to oversee expenditures of the state’s opioid settlement money. District Attorney Gavin Holihan said the money has to be spent within certain time frames and only on certain things. It can’t be used for salaries, for example.
If those provisions are violated, the money can be clawed back. Holihan said the new employees would be responsible for making sure it’s spent correctly and on time.
Other spending on criminal justice would add a full-time interpreter position to the public defender’s office.
Armstrong lamented that he won’t be in office when ribbon cuttings are held for a couple of long-term projects. One is the new wing at the main campus of the county’s senior home, Cedarbrook. The section will reopen to residents sometime in 2026.
“We have a 5-star rating on a county nursing home, that’s unbelievable,” he said, referring to the top ranking bestowed on Cedarbrook by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
He also had hoped to celebrate the opening of the Riverside Drive project connecting Hamilton Street in Allentown to Race Street in Whitehall as part of the development of the Lehigh River waterfront.
The budget fully funds the county’s farmland preservation program, at $1.7 million. In percentage terms, the county’s 28,000 preserved acres leads the state.
Commissioner Geoff Brace said Armstrong “approached the budget process with a lot of due diligence.” Commissioner Ron Beitler said he is supportive of the plan “at first glance.”
“The proposal reflects a goal of living within our means as a county government while funding key priorities moving forward,” Beitler said, adding that he will oppose “any amendments increasing spending or necessitating a tax increase.”
Armstrong was a longtime social studies teacher in the Whitehall School District who entered public service after retirement when he was appointed to a vacancy on the Whitehall Township board of commissioners.
He was elected county executive in 2017. Serving in the role “was a highlight of my life,” he said.
“My job was to be trustworthy,” he added. “I never made promises. That’s something politicians do. I never wanted to be a politician. I wanted to be someone who brought better government to Lehigh County.”
Morning Call reporter Daniel Patrick Sheehan can be reached at 610-820-6598 or dsheehan@mcall.com.
