TARTA board passes second of two resolutions for levy renewal

The 1-mill levy expires with the last tax assessments calculated in 2020 and collected during 2021.

By David Patch / The Blade
Thu, 05 Dec 2019 15:29:23 GMT

The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority board of trustees passed Thursday morning the second of two resolutions necessary to place the 10-year renewal of one of the agency’s two property levies on the March 17 ballot.

The resolution formally sends a request to the Lucas County Board of Elections to include the renewal on that ballot, following certification of the levy by the county auditor’s office.

The 1-mill levy expires with the last tax assessments calculated in 2020 and collected during 2021. While transit authority leaders hope to submit to referendum later next year a proposal to replace TARTA’s property levies with a sales tax, they are proceeding with renewing the smaller of the two levies as a “safety net” position.

“It is absolutely essential to pass this property-tax renewal while we look ahead to change the funding structure in the future,” said Daniel Woodcock, who during the meeting was elected as the transit trustees’ new president, effective Jan. 1.

Trustee Chris Monaghan said that while tax renewals, under which the charges to existing taxpayers don’t change, are usually uncontroversial, the presence on the March 17 ballot of a proposed increase in Toledo’s municipal income tax could be problematic if it charges up anti-tax sentiments.

“There is a new tax on the same ballot that’s not polling well,” Mr. Monaghan said, warning that “it’s very easy to vote ‘no’ on two” taxes if a voter is drawn to the polls by opposition to one of them.

In response to the first transit authority resolution, the county auditor’s office certified annual revenue of $5,450,962 from the 1-mill levy, assuming that the tax valuation in the TARTA district doesn’t change. The TARTA district includes Toledo, Ottawa Hills, Sylvania, Sylvania Township, Maumee, Waterville, and Rossford.

TARTA also collects a 1.5-mill levy in its service area. That 10-year levy, which generates about $8 million annually, expires in 2027.

Along with choosing Mr. Woodcock to succeed Francis Frey as the TARTA trustees’ president, the board approved a nominating committee recommendation that Kelsie Hoagland become vice president. The committee recommendations were not contested.

While stepping down as president, Mr. Frey said he looks forward to working with the board’s new leadership. By far the board’s most senior member, he has been its president for several different stints, the most recent beginning during the summer following Chuck Larkins’s sudden death.

“This has been a very transitional year, but believe me, it will have nothing on next year,” Mr. Frey said.

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