Budget and Finance Committee, September 30, 2026
Recommends approval: Bill 65 - Business License Fee Increase, unanimous
What happened
On September 30, 2026, the Budget and Finance Committee recommended approval of Bill 65 - Business License Fee Increase (unanimous).
This Allentown Budget and Finance Committee meeting contained no land-use or zoning business. The committee reviewed the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (unmodified audit opinion) and the August financial report, and voted to forward Bill 65 — which raises the annual b…
- Jurisdiction
- Allentown, PA
- Governing body
- Advisory (makes a recommendation)
- Date
- September 30, 2026
- Decisions
- 3 zoning decisions
- Outcome
- Recommends approval, unanimous
- Next step
- Final board vote (pending)
Free sample: decision 1 of 3
Bill 65 - Business License Fee Increase
Committee voted to forward Bill 65 to council. The bill amends Part Two, General Legislation, Chapter 196, Business License, Section 3 (fee) and removes language in Section 6 (violation penalties). The new business license fee is $50 (a $15 increase from $35, unchanged since 1992), effective with 2027 billing renewal. Staff cited rising administrative and postage costs and growth from ~6,000 to over 14,000 business renewals. Council discussed but did not adopt a tiered/temporary business license structure.
The other decisions are listed below. Available full write-ups and conditions are included with Pro.
Allentown access in Pro, $39/month.
Key Decisions (3)
Bill 65 - Business License Fee Increase
Review of 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report
August Financial Report
Full write-ups and conditions for all 3 decisions in Pro.
Market Signals (3)
Commercial Demand
Active business registrations in Allentown grew from ~6,000 to over…
Infrastructure
The city has significant unused debt capacity (can take on…
Sentiment
Councilmembers flagged that current flat business license and health/insurance fees…
Who spoke
8 distinct speakers; 3 identified names.
All speaker roles: 3 Staff, 2 Councilmember, 1 Clerk, 1 Chair, 1 Witness.
Identified name roles: 1 Clerk, 1 Staff, 1 Witness.
Speaker sample: Steve, Staff.
2 more identified names in Pro: 1 Clerk, 1 Witness.
Full speaker roster in Pro
Meeting audio
Listen to the recording and select a timestamp with Pro.
Audio in Pro
Zoning terms (3)
4 recorded timestamps
- approved (2 timestamps)
- variance (1 timestamps)
- zoning (1 timestamps)
Decision moments (3)
Ask this meeting anything
The transcript is ready. Ask questions with answers cited to this meeting in Pro.
Meeting Q&A in Pro
Questions you can ask
- What were the recorded votes?
- Who spoke, and what did they discuss?
Go deeper on this meeting
3 recorded decisions. Available full write-ups are included with Pro for Allentown.
Full write-up and conditions in Pro
Follow Allentown
Get the agenda when a meeting is posted, plus decision and analysis alerts.
We'll email you a 6-digit code, no password.