ARTICLE
At its regular meeting scheduled for 4:00 p.m. today, Toledo City Council will likely vote on two resolutions that would each place a question on the November 8 general election ballot. Resolution 282-16 would renew the City’s three-quarter percent temporary income tax for a period of four years, beginning January 1, 2017. One-third of the proceeds would be allocated to police, fire and other safety services, one-third to the General Fund, and one-third to the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) fund. The City would still have the ability to transfer proceeds from the CIP portion of the funding to the General Fund. Resolution 258-16 would make a number of updates to the City Charter. These changes include: • Holding primary elections for offices of Mayor and Council on the same day as the state primary; • Mandating that ballot petitions be submitted to the Lucas County Board of Elections 90 days before elections rather than 60; • Requiring a primary election to be followed by the next general election when there is a vacancy for the unexpired term for the offices of Mayor and Council; • Establishing that service resulting from an appointment or election to an unexpired Council term should not count toward any term limitations; and • Eliminating the requirement to send certified letters to property owners to advise about service assessments. Other legislation likely to be voted on by Council include: • Resolution 259-16, which would request from the Toledo Plan Commission a review of proposed requirements for animated changing signs, also called electronic message centers. The requirements would make city code regarding the signs similar to the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Advertising Device Control Standards. Currently, Toledo signage code only allows for the signs in Shopping Center Districts and in the Central Business District, and has not been updated as sign technology has changed. • Ordinance 263-16, which would approve the City’s CIP budget for 2016 through 2020, and authorize $1,223,044 for projects that have yet to be appropriated funding. The plan includes spending a total of $55,939,502, with $13,040,000 for new projects and the remainder for debt service and other commitments. The budget anticipates a transfer of $11,067,300 from the CIP fund to the City’s General Fund in 2016. • Ordinance 269-16, which would authorize a one-year agreement with the Wood County Sherriff’s office for the detention of Toledo prisoners currently housed at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio (CCNO). The ordinance comes as a result of the City and CCNO not being able to arrive at an agreement on responsibility for incarceration costs for Toledo prisoners at the facility. • Resolution 289-16, which would demonstrate Council’s support for reinstating Ohio’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Portfolio Standards and oppose a continued freeze on the standards beyond 2016. In 2014 the Ohio legislature froze the clean energy standards for two years, and this resolution is in response to proposals to continue this freeze. • Ordinance 292-16, which would establish the Toledo Alight Trust Fund to manage deposits and expenses for a project to illuminate the Anthony Wayne Bridge with programmable LED lighting. Funding for the project will come from the City of Toledo, the Ohio Department of Transportation, and private funds via the Toledo Community Foundation, All Council meetings are held in Council Chambers on the first floor of One Government Center, located on Jackson Boulevard in downtown Toledo.