Water Quality, Streets & Infrastructure Committee - Regular Meeting

I call to order the May 21st meeting of the Toledo City Council Transportation Committee. Clerk, please call the roll.

Driscoll?

Here.

Hobbs? Gattis? Here. Comibes? Here. Martinez? Sorrento? Here. Williams? For present.

We're going to have a presentation from the administration about the proposed legislation that will be voted on next week. If any members from the public want to do public comment, we'll do that at the end after the presentation and questions from members. And if so, there's a sign up sheet on the podium and we'll have to take your comments at the end. Without further ado, we'll turn it over to the administration.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair Driscoll, members of Council, Megan Robeson, Chief of Operations for the City of Toledo today, Melanie Campbell, Director of Finance, and Jeremy MacLysak, Deputy Director of Public Works, are joining me. Thank you for having us today to discuss the vehicle registration permissive tax As as we mentioned at the agenda review the legislation that is currently in committee Allows us to enact an annual license plate fee upon the operation of motor vehicles under the Ohio revised code section on permissive vehicle motor tax municipalities can add a five dollar license fee to license plates within the taxing district and There are usage restrictions associated with the fee, and it must be used for planning, construction, maintenance, and repair of public roads, highways, streets, and bridges. Revenues from this would be deposited in our Street Construction Maintenance and Repair Fund, often referred to as the SCM&R Fund. Based on our estimates and based on the estimates from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles data, over the past three years, there were approximately 220,000 total registered license plates in Toledo's taxing district. So based on this information, we estimate this fee would bring in about $1.1 million on an annual basis to that fund. The amount of revenue that we would be generating from this fee equates to the city's Patch and Seal program. The maintenance method used in our Patch and Seal program helped prolong the life of our roads by about five to six years. A good example of where we have used this maintenance method is Airport Highway, Grantley Avenue, and Eastbrook. This program is operated out of our road and bridge maintenance division. As you can see from this slide and the next, the current maximum permissive tax for registration in a single taxing district is $30 per registration. Currently, the county is enacting all available county levies and the city is enacting one of the available levies. Because the county is enacting all of the levies available to them, It means the city or the municipality, Toledo, cannot enact three of the levies that are available to us. This leaves Toledo as the municipality with only one remaining levy that we can enact. As you can see here, there are several municipalities within the state that have already enacted the fee and are in the process of enacting the fee. The majority of municipalities in Lucas County are enacting this. You can see Springfield, Sylvania, Ottawa Hills, Maumee, and Waterville have all moved with this or are in the process. Additionally, Bowling Green and Wood County has also enacted this fee. I will now turn it over to the Director Campbell who will go through some more information on the SCM&R fund for us.

Thank you and good afternoon Chairman Driscoll, members of the committee. This next slide just provides an overview of the Street Construction Maintenance and Repair Fund. five-dollar fee would go into this fund as we've discussed. What's reflected here though are the current revenues and expenditures. This is based off our 2026 budget. So there's 17.3 million in total revenues in SCM&R. 12.2 comes from gasoline taxes and we've seen that revenue source over the past several years be pretty consistent around that $12 million mark in collections. Existing license taxes are 4.6 million, and then there's about half a million in other revenues, a portion of which come from the overweight truck enforcement program. On the expenditure side, the total budget is about $19.2 million in SCM&R. $12.5 of that does go into the road and bridge maintenance budget, and that covers patch and seal, crack sealing, pothole programs. And there's 52 budgeted positions in the SCM&R fund under road and bridge. 5.7 million is under traffic management for their programs, including sign and signal maintenance, pavement marking, or any traffic calming measures. And 36 positions in traffic management are funded under SCM&R. And then lastly, there's about a million dollars in other costs, including utilities and some debt service costs. Overall, we do face a structural budget deficit in the SCM&R fund of about $1.9 million. the next two pages reflect the scm and our fiscal plan and projection you'll see 2025 unaudited revenues and expenditures our current 2026 projected budget and then two years of projected revenues and expenditures for 27 and 28. What's reflected here is that you see in 2027, the revenues in the intergovernmental area, that's where this fee would go, go from 16.8 million to 17.9 million, reflecting that additional 1.1 million approximately in additional taxes. As you look at the expenditure, labor costs are projected to increase a little bit over the next couple years. Service and supply costs are maintained as flat. And there is some existing debt service costs that come out in the operating transfer category. Overall, you'll see that the change in fund balance reflects that projected deficit between revenues and expenditures and a use of fund balance over the next several years. However, the fund balance is maintained as a positive number with that additional revenue. The next page is again the same SCMNR plan and projection. The only change being the growth in revenue from 26 to 27 doesn't include the 1.1 million approximately in additional license taxes. As you look through the report and at the change in fund balance, accelerated use of the fund balance in 27 and 28 in a projected deficit at the end of 2028 fund cannot have a negative fund balance deficit so we would be having to make adjustments to revenues or expenditures to address that

So as director Campbell showed in order to maintain a positive fund balance in the SCM and our fund the city would need to increase revenues through the use of this fee or reduce expenditures and personnel within the SCM and our fund If we were not to receive the increase in revenue through the approval of this fee We would no longer be able to continue our patch and seal program and the associated positions with that would be eliminated We are happy to answer any questions

Councilmember Gattis.

Thank you. Thank you for your presentation. The patch and seal program, have we done that consistently every year? I believe there was a couple of years where we didn't do it for the duration or we didn't staff it. Am I correct?

The patch and seal program has been in existence for the last three years now. This year we did a little modification to it instead of seal coating the entire street. We're focusing on larger patches and a lot more crack sealing. So we're just not doing the seal coating of it this year.

Okay. The .5 million for overweight trucks, how many staffing members do we have working on that? How often do they watch overweight trucks?

That's within the police department. We would have to take that by way of referral. I don't have that information with us. Okay. Yeah.

You know, I know I made a stink about it because I am hearing people are having a hard time stretching this, stretching funds. And I know it's $5, but to some people that is the difference of medicine, buying medicine for a month. So... I have been asked by the community is, are there ways to, instead of using the $5 on the license plate fees for our residents, to put them onto semi trucks, utility trucks, other trucks in our jurisdiction that are causing more damage to a road than a car?

Currently, through what we've looked at and through the Ohio revised code and what's allowed through the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, these are the only fees that we can apply at this time. I would have to work with our law department to see if there is something we can enact outside of that.

Okay. I would appreciate if you could look into that. Thank you.

Councilman Zaratu.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. So I see that this includes the labor costs. Am I correct on that? Those that are working?

That's correct.

Okay. All right. And then as far as communities around the state, it looks like Columbus State and Cincinnati already are at the maximum level of $30.00. Cleveland is at $25 and then locally Springfield Township is at $30 Sylvania's at 32 we know about Sylvania Township Let me see if I have it in my notes I

Sylvania townships currently at 25 25.

Okay, and then Ottawa Hills is 30 mommy is going to be at 30 next year This is a fee that won't take effect until January 1st. Am I correct?

Yeah, that's correct so municipalities have to have this approved through the legislative process by July 1st in order for it to go into effect in January of that following year and

And that would be the same for Waterville? That's correct.

Yes, that's correct.

And then Bowling Green is also at 30. Rossford, Perrysburg are at 25 and 25 respectively. So it's $5 per vehicle's license plates. When you renew your plates, there's an additional $5. And I think, my impression is, because I renewed my plates in January, I think that the state has raised several of the fees. I think I paid $65 or something like that, more than what I did the last couple years. And I don't know where that money goes in the state, but obviously our money goes into patch and seal and maintenance of streets. That money cannot be used for anything else. It can't be used for police or fire or the neighborhood's department. By law, it must be used strictly for street maintenance. Am I correct?

That's correct. If we are to enact this fee under the restrictions, the revenue generated must be used specifically for planning, construction, maintenance, and repair of public roads, highways, streets, and bridges.

So if we don't do preventive maintenance like patch and seal, are potholes part of this too?

Yes, potholes would fall under the SDM and our fund and maintenance piece.

Yeah, and I think most of our citizens are familiar with potholes because we have a lot. It depends on the weather, but this year it seems like we had quite a few with the cold and warm weather and so forth. But if we don't maintain fixing the potholes, fixing the patching that we can do and so forth, then I think what happens is Down the road we're going to have more problems with road construction. In other words, the severity of damage to our roads will occur. Am I correct on that, Jeremy?

That is correct. We have been, obviously with the quarter percent tax, we have been doing all kinds of construction around the city for how many years now? So in order to keep up with what our engineering services team is doing. It is very vital for us to keep up with the maintenance of all of those streets that we've basically upgraded and made new.

And the one quarter percent road tax, what does that take care of? Residential streets.

So the one percent tax only takes care of residential streets and it is only allowed to be used to not even repair but to fix like mill and fill or reconstruct residential roads. So none of that tax goes

to the maintenance side okay but the one quarter percent that the citizens have renewed now twice thank goodness uh that's that basically is is residential primarily Are we using that for any of the matches and planning like state routes like Monroe Street or Central Avenue, strictly residential?

Strictly residential. Okay. If there are no houses on it with residents living there, then it is not used on those streets, yes.

Okay, so hypothetically, if we were to take the 1.25% money and use it to fund police or parks, that I believe would be a felony conviction in a court of law because it would be misappropriation of monies. And it's the same thing with the SCM&R license plate fee. If that money was used for parks or neighborhoods or anything else in the general fund, that would be an illegal act and be subject to felony charges. I just want to make clear that there are very strong restrictions on this money in that it is not money that can be used for other things. It has to be used for street maintenance and road construction and so forth. The license fee, clearly, is preventive maintenance on streets. Okay, just wanted to clarify that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Councilman Sorato. Yeah, I think it's, yeah, just important to note that the quarter percent money that voters approved does not, this is a different fund. And every dollar we spend on this is a dollar we save, probably much more than a dollar that's saved for future road reconstructions and resurfacings, because we're able to make, we're able to maintain and do the preventative work necessary. I think we'll go to questions or comments from the public. If there are any, if you're a member of the public and you'd like to comment on the legislation, now would be your time. I'll ask one more time. Any members from the public interested in commenting on the legislation? Terrific. Well, this is much shorter than I think we thought it would be. Just for edification for members of council, we're not allowed to go emergency passage on this. So although we have to pass it by July 1st, We're not allowed to do emergency passage, so we still have to have a 30-day window after the legislation is passed before it comes to law, which means if we're going to do it this year, we have to vote on it by the May 26th council meeting. And so that's why it'll just be passage. It won't be emergency passage. And also why, I mean, we could keep it in committee, but it wouldn't do us any, it doesn't do us any good in terms of 2027 to pass this legislation in September or something like that. So I'm gonna move to have this relieved of the committee, of the Transportation Committee. Seeing no objections, so ordered. And without any further business, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you.

I did have a comment, just not on the legislation for the Transportation Committee.

Oh, right. Yeah, I suppose. Yeah, sure. Go ahead.

Okay. Go ahead, sir. Hi, I'm Glenn Rang, 3072 Karskaden Avenue. I'm bringing a question to the council. If ODOT prepares to do the I-475 construction widening, what is the fallback plan if President Trump rescinds the gas tax? Because we know that this tax revenue will probably help pay for this construction. But seeing what they have done with federal revenue that was supposed to go to Front and Main, all bets are off. And the state will not have the revenue because of the flat tax that's in effect, because we're going to be losing $1.2 billion in revenue there. Federal legislators for Ohio will not step up because of what has happened to their colleagues in both Indiana, Louisiana, and now Thomas Massey in Kentucky. So they'll be quiet. My question is, what are we going to do if we're in the middle of a construction thing and the feds pull out their money? What happens to the city then? So I'll leave that. That's my only comment.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

I'm glad you're here.