(Toledo, OH) The boards of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce Board and the Toledo Area Small Business Association (TASBA) recently voted to support the following levies that will appear on the November 6th ballot.
Toledo Public Schools (TPS)/Issues 5 & 6
- TPS is seeking the renewal of both its 5.80-mill, 5-year general operating/ improvements levy, and its 10-year emergency levy calculated at 6.67 mills. Both will appear on the November 6, 2018 ballot for residents in the TPS School District. Both levies expire at the end of next year. The renewed levy funds will help to continue TPS's positive trends in increased overall enrollment, graduation rates, and proficiency scores. Levy funds also support continued improvements being made to programming including its career tech offerings, early high school options, and college credit plus programs. These offerings are being expanded to address the needs of employers.
Lucas County Children Services (LCCS) /Issue 9
- The Lucas County Children Services Board is seeking the renewal of its 1.85-mill property levy for a 10-year period. It will appear on the November 6 ballot for all Lucas County voters. The current levy is set to expire at the end of this year. LCCS faces continued challenges addressing impacts of the opiate epidemic and the need to recruit and retain skilled social workers. It has noted a greater growth in demand for services from the suburban communities than the urban core.
Lucas County Jail and Behavioral Center/Issue 10
- The Lucas County Commissioners are seeking a new 1.37-mill, 37-year bond levy to pay for construction of a new jail and behavioral health solution center in North Toledo. The question will appear on the November 6 ballot for all Lucas County voters. According to the Commissioners, building the new jail would address the 40-year federal consent decree the County is under regarding confinement conditions at the current jail. The current jail has fallen into disrepair and rehabbing the facility is cost prohibitive. Its design does not meet modern standards and requires a high ratio of officers to monitor inmates. The new plan presented by the Commissioners will have dedicated funding to maintain the facility and address operational needs. This plan is also aimed at reducing the operational costs of the jail with such factors as reducing transportation to CCNO and a higher officer to inmate ratio. Other options being explored include the use of video arraignment and the potential for having an arraignment and municipal court on site at the facility.
Mental Health and Recovery Services (MHRS)/Issue 11
- The Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County is seeking the renewal of its 1.00-mill, 10-year property levy. It will appear on the November 6, 2018 ballot for all Lucas County voters. The current levy is set to expire at the end of this year. Renewal of the levy will help address the increasing demand for mental health and substance use recovery in Lucas County. The number of individuals seeking mental health and recovery services in Lucas County has increased more than 13 percent since 2015, and is expected to grow by 3 percent annually. MHRS has also committed to partnering on the behavioral center at the proposed new county jail to connect individuals in need of mental health and addiction services with programs to deflect them from entering the criminal justice system. It estimates that 57 percent of those jailed at the current facility have a mental health need.
The preceding levies were reviewed by the Chamber's Levy Review Subcommittee, which researches and studies levy requests and makes recommendations to other Chamber committees, culminating with the Chamber and TASBA Boards. This process ensures that levy requests are examined by a broad cross-section of the Chamber's membership and reflect the views of the business community. The Chamber's comprehensive levy review process includes presentations by the agencies making the request, an examination of the impact of the levy request on both the agency and taxpayers, and a review of agency financials to better understand the need behind the request.
Additionally, the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce board also recommends support of:
Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority/Issue 12
- The Port is seeking the renewal of its .4 mill, 5-year property levy for economic and job development programs. The levy renewal will allow the port to continue to effectively management Toledo's port facilities, making a $1B impact on the local economy, increase passenger traffic at Toledo Express Airport along with industrial development on the airport site and provide businesses with low-cost financing to pay for energy efficiency improvements to their facilities and building systems.
