Toledo voters are deciding Tuesday whether to approve Issue 16, a quarter-percent increase to the city income tax that leaders say would raise about $25 million a year for the next four years. If it passes, city officials say the money would be restricted to public safety work, including police and fire recruit classes, gang enforcement efforts and more residential traffic enforcement.
The vote is landing at a moment when the city says it is staring at 73 layoffs if new revenue does not arrive. Deputy Mayor Abby Arnold said the current budget projections include those cuts, with roughly half tied to police and fire. That is why Issue 16 has become more than a tax question for many residents: it is being presented as the difference between adding resources and trimming the force that responds when calls come in.
The size of the levy is not an estimate pulled from thin air. A quarter-percent tax increase on Toledo's income base is projected to bring in about $25 million annually, and city leaders say that would continue over four years if voters approve it. They say the levy would help avoid cuts to police and fire services, the two departments most directly connected to the public safety pitch behind the measure.
But the pressure around the vote reaches beyond emergency response. Officials have also identified youth programs, city pools and other services as possible cutbacks if the levy fails, a choice that gives the proposal a broader reach than a typical safety funding fight. George Sarantou said youth programs matter because they keep young people engaged during the summer months, and he argued that the city cannot thrive without safety or that kind of programming.
That concern is sharpened by what crews are already dealing with. Toledo Firefighters Local 92 President Joe Cira said the department has no spare engines or medic units available, one ambulance in west Toledo has been out of service since last week, and crews recently operated 10 firefighters below minimum staffing levels over the weekend. City leaders say the cuts they have discussed are only possible scenarios, and no final decisions have been made.
If Issue 16 fails, the next step moves back to Toledo City Council, which would have to take action after the election on any budget changes. For now, the decision rests with voters, and the result will tell city leaders whether they have the room to keep the current plan intact or whether they have to start approving reductions that could touch police, fire, youth programs and pools alike.
