Parking, staffing needs dominate Easton Council as 2026 budget passes

EASTON, Pa. — Parking dominated discussion at Easton City Council’s meeting Wednesday night as officials finalized changes to the city’s 2026 budget and weighed several other proposals.

Council reviewed new parking data tools, the availability of temporary overflow parking and ongoing concerns about enforcement staffing, which several members said was affecting safety in city neighborhoods.

Luis Campos, the city’s chief administrative officer, outlined new features added to easton-pa.com’s Parking Department page, including a live tracker showing the number of available spaces at the North Fourth Street and North Third Street garages, updated every 15 minutes. A companion graph displays trends over selected periods, such as 30 days.

Campos said those graphs reflect peak-hour congestion during high-volume events like State Theatre performances or holiday shopping.

“With the influx of parkers coming in quickly and leaving, it creates a gridlock,” he said. “As you all know, we have peak hour issues.”

Campos also announced that St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church near North Third Street temporarily opened its lots to the public, adding 50 parking spaces. The lots were “about 80% to 90% full” Friday and Saturday night, he said, calling it a promising case study for a longer-term memorandum of lease with the church next year.

Staffing vs. cost

Police Chief Carl Scalzo said the city does not have enough parking enforcement staff to keep up with demand in a city “that wasn’t designed for the number of cars that are currently in it.”

“Right now we have one full-time supervisor and one full-time officer, and maybe five part-time,” he said. “I would tell you that we do need a lot more.” He noted that cities such as Bethlehem and Allentown employ 15 to 20 full-time officers and argued that full-time staffing offers more flexibility and consistent quality.

Mayor Salvatore J. Panto Jr. pushed back, saying the cost of full-time positions — including health care and retirement benefits — would strain the budget. He and Councilman Roger Ruggles said hiring more part-time workers would be more financially feasible.

Councilman Frank Pintabone sided with Scalzo, saying too few part-time officers are available to work when needed. He cited four abandoned vehicles recently removed from the West Ward and South Side.

“Those are parking spots that our residents don’t have because cars are sitting there for five or six months,” he said. “We need more… part-time hasn’t been working.”

Scalzo added that the revenue from full-time enforcement would offset staffing expenses.

“Anybody you hire at full or part-time well pays for themself with the actual enforcement actions that they take,” he said. “Two or three citations over the course of an hour benefits the city from a safety point of view.”

Budget passage and parking rates

After the meeting, Pintabone wrote on Facebook that council passed the 2026 budget, which includes funding for the upcoming Comprehensive Plan and the city’s first certified urban planner.

He said the city could afford the planner by raising parking rates in non-prime areas to $2.80 an hour. Campos said each five-cent increase would generate about $118,000 in additional revenue next year.

“For five cents, we’re going to do the Comp Plan and hire a certified planner, which we desperately need,” Pintabone said. He added that the rate change may nudge more drivers into the city’s garages, which cost $2.50 an hour.

Panto said he expects limited behavioral change. He supported the $2.80 rate but said a state grant would help offset costs.

“You could put 10 parking garages in Easton,” he said. “People don’t park in garages.”

The approved budget also includes funding to build Easton’s first playground designed for children with disabilities, featuring wheelchair-accessible swings, sensory boards and other inclusive equipment.

“We should be an inclusive society,” Panto said. “You should be able to go to the park and play, whether wheelchair-bound or not.”

Council also passed a resolution supporting and protecting immigrant communities. Pintabone said the budget “plans for Easton’s future while taking care of all our residents.”