In 2016, Lehigh County Commissioners launched an innovative, outside-the-box program to maximize farmland preservation funding. The program was championed in part by Percy Dougherty and former program director Jeff Zehr.

The Municipal Partnership Program encourages local communities to contribute funds, which the county then matches. This not only doubles the local investment but also increases our ability to leverage additional matching funds from the state.

This effort helped us surpass the historic milestone of preserving over 28,000 acres across more than 400 farms—and it continues to expand.

When the program began, some questioned whether individual communities would participate. Over the last nine years, I’m happy to report that the program has generated $2,434,765.29 in additional funding from partner communities.

So far, participating communities include Lower Macungie Township, Upper Macungie, Lower Milford Township, Upper Milford, North Whitehall, Whitehall, Upper Saucon, Heidelberg, and Weisenberg—resulting in an estimated $4.5 million increase in preservation funds from the state. A big thank you to these communities!

The program doesn’t buy farms outright but instead purchases conservation easements, compensating farmers and landowners for permanently restricting development to ensure the land remains in agriculture. This approach protects our farming heritage while balancing growth. Through voluntary participation and partnerships with communities and the state, Lehigh County now ranks 4th in Pennsylvania for farmland preservation—an impressive feat given that the counties ahead of us are significantly larger.

Our program gives communities flexible ways to preserve farms—whether by funding costs beyond the county’s cap, co-funding lower-ranked properties, or establishing independent preservation funds. These options protect farmland while maximizing county and state matching funds. By working together, we maximize resources to safeguard agriculture for future generations.

The program has become a model statewide, with Lehigh County Commissioners and the County Executive consistently fully funding it in recent years.

If you’re a farmer or landowner interested in preserving your land, or a municipal leader looking to get your community involved, call the Lehigh County Farmland Preservation Office at 610-336-5680 to learn more.

Ron W. Beitler Announces Candidacy for Re-election to Lehigh County Board of Commissioners

Lehigh County, PA – Lehigh County Commissioner Ron W. Beitler has announced his candidacy for re-election. Beitler represents County District 2, which includes Lower & Upper Macungie, Upper & Lower Milford Townships, as well as the Boroughs of Alburtis & Macungie.

Beitler is completing his first term on the County Board of Commissioners after previously serving 2 terms as a Lower Macungie Commissioner, including time as Board President. He also currently serves as Chair of the County Farmland Preservation Board.

Over 12 years of public service, Beitler has prioritized farmland and open space preservation, noting that Lehigh County recently surpassed the milestone of 28,000 acres of preserved farmland across more than 400 farms. “Over the past three years, we’ve achieved historic success in preserving farmland and open space, and I remain committed to leading this effort for the future,” Beitler said. Lehigh County now ranks among the top five counties in Pennsylvania for both the total number of farms and the acreage of preserved farmland.

Beitler applies lessons from successfully building and running multiple businesses to his approach in government. ‘Financial solvency is the foundation of long-term prosperity,’ Beitler said. ‘I’ve built businesses with that principle in mind, and I bring the same approach to decisions in government.’

Additionally, Beitler remains committed to reducing the burden of government on the economy including small businesses that drive the local economy. “I know the challenges entrepreneurs face. Too often, government becomes a barrier rather than a partner in helping businesses grow and thrive” Beitler said.

During his tenure in Lower Macungie, Beitler led an innovative effort to implement a homestead exemption, significantly reducing or in some cases reducing to $0 residential property taxes for most homeowners in the township. Today he highlights that Lehigh County has not raised taxes during his time on the board. ‘In a time of economic uncertainty, rising costs of living, and surging home prices, keeping government spending in check remains a top priority,’ Beitler said.” Beitler also co-sponsored a successful countywide tax rebate for volunteer firefighters. 

Additional priorities for a 2nd term include re-focusing Lehigh County Government on core, everyday quality of life and kitchen-table issues such as infrastructure, housing costs, parks and public safety including police, firefighters and EMS.

Beitler, 46, is a 4th generation Lehigh County resident, girl dad and small business owner. “If District 2 residents give me the opportunity to continue serving, I’ll continue to work to ensure Lehigh County remains a place where families can thrive, businesses can grow, and government is efficient, responsive, and accountable to the people.

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The Issue
At this weeks County BOC I voted in favor of authorizing Chair Brace to draft a letter of support for SB 361 a judicial compliment bill pending in Harrisburg. If added to the bill an 11th Judge in Lehigh Co. would take office in 2026. A Judge has not been added to the Lehigh Co. Court of Common Pleas for almost 20 years.

President Judge Johnson on behalf of all 10 current Court of Common Pleas Judges made the request along with a compelling argument including increasing complexities and volume of caseloads. But the most straight forward rationale is simply the fact that our population continues to increase. Since 2004 when a 10th Judge was added the County population has increased by 20% resulting in an increased demand on the courts. Further, over the next 3 decades the LVPC is forecasting this trend to continue. Valley wide LVPC predicts another 100,000 residents. The majority in Lehigh County. According to Judge Johnsons letter, Judges in Lehigh carry some of the highest caseloads among 3rd class counties despite having as many as 5 fewer Judges. He also cited a now almost 10 year old steady that in 2004 concluded the County required 10.59 Judges. Again, the population has increased since then and will continue to. Important to remember, the window to take action on these items only comes every few years.

Why is this necessary? Why does this matter? And why is the cost necessary? The way I see this, the US Constitution obliges us. The 6th amendment deals with the rights of the accused. This includes impartial Juries, a public trial and one without un-necessary delays. Courts are a core function of County government and among our prime responsibilities. Basically, this is core rule of law stuff we’re considering.

As a matter of background, I’m often pushing back on (even if well meaning) efforts by some to engage Lehigh county government in areas that are “outside of our lane”. This happens fairly often in County Gov because our responsibilities are so clearly defined. What we deal with and what we don’t deal with are specifically laid out.

As per the expense, yes this is going to be a significant expense. But it’s within our core functions and so it’s not just validated but required and necessary. A constitutional obligation.

The Cost
While the state bears (in theory) the cost of salaries, ancillary costs are high estimated at over 400,000 dollars a year. This includes operating costs (software, transcriptions etc) and personnel costs (support staff + sheriff wages).

Looping back to the Judge salary, while the state is obligated to fund it (70k per year) in recent allocations they have not entirely. Most recently only funding at a level of 45k per Judge. As judges are added across the state, the allocation pool has not increased. A problem is that while counties like Lehigh have seen increasing populations across the majority of the state most have seen decreases. Counties with decreasing population have not reduced their number of Judges even if possibly warranted based on population and caseload. This means everyone gets less pie. Including those who need it.

THANK YOU!

First, I want to personally thank all the fine folks who ran for local office this cycle including my opponent Mark Fedorov for Lehigh County Commissioner, District 2 who ran a well fought but clean campaign. Very clear to see he put in a ton of work into it and ran for the right reasons. There seemed to be a chance I was going to be unopposed for a bit but Mark jumped in and offered voters a choice. When voters have choices it’s better for our local democracy. I was hoping to meet Mark at the polls yesterday but didn’t run into him. I’ve heard he’s a good guy and appreciate the issues focused campaign he ran. Running for local office is a HUGE commitment of time, treasure and personal bandwidth. I sincerely appreciate all the folks who ran for local positions from school boards on up.

Next, I want to thank every single volunteer who helped me with this race. A quick count I did just now tallied nearly 100 people who helped in some fashion. From donations, canvassing to poll helpers. It’s even more if I count those who shared posts and made kind remarks on social media etc. And of course those who helped pass the Lower Macungie Open Space Referendum which garnered a resounding 60% yes votes.

Today, I’ll be out to gathering up signs. Tomorrow the work begins. In fact, late last night was already texting some folks about how we can begin to drive a conversation about regional sanitary sewer mandates and associated financial obligations. This is something that impacts each D2 community and an issue the county must take a lead in. In fact, this is a huge issue for just about every one of Lehigh Counties 25 municipalities.

And of course, my last few weeks as a Lower Mac Commissioner the work begins right away game-planning how we move forward the new open space funding! We’ve already scheduled a special meeting of the BOC to discuss as a group moving immediately on preservation priorities. I’ll talk more about this in the next few weeks. Lastly, serving in Lower Mac has been one of the most rewarding jobs of my life. The last 8 years have gone by so fast. We accomplished so much. But it wasn’t done alone and I’ll talk about that also in my last few weeks in this office.