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The city is
asking voters to approve an extension to the temporary .75
percent tax that will expire at the end of this calendar
year and to raise that amount by an additional .25 percent.
The raise, if approved, will generate an additional $16.6
per annum for street repairs.
For an
individual who makes $35,000 per year, Issue 2 would
increase his or her taxes by $87.48 per year.
According
to Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson, the income tax increase
is necessary not only because of the dismal condition of the
city’s roads but also because all other efforts to raise
funds for such repairs have been exhausted. Since 2008, the
city has lost $83 million from the State of Ohio due to
reductions in local government funding and since 2010 voters
have approved transference away from the capital improvement
fund to the general fund to fill the reduction in state
funding.
Past
administrations have also coped with the budget deficit by
selling off major assets, clearly a short-term solution to
the problem.
“An
increase in the temporary tax is vital for our city to
continue its forward movement,” said Hicks-Hudson in a
conversation with The Truth. “And the safety of our streets
is necessary to attract businesses here and to keep the
businesses we have.”
Unlike
levies that frequently appear on the ballot, noted the
mayor, this tax increase will not directly affect property
owners and retirees, it affects wage earners – those who
work in Toledo be they residents or commuters who pay income
taxes to the city.
The
increased revenues, said the mayor, would be specifically
earmarked for street repairs in residential areas, those
areas, for example, that are not eligible for matching funds
because they are not state roads.
The City of
Toledo will be establishing a citizens’ oversight committee,
said Hicks-Hudson, to make sure the additional dollars get
spent on streets.
“We need
our citizens’ support so that we can upgrade our residential
streets, continue our community safety initiatives and
return to using capital dollars for capital projects,” said
the mayor in a recent newsletter. |
