Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz detailed in Thursday's press conference how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the city's budget.
While the Toledo is losing money, the city is receiving just over ten million dollars from the state of Ohio, as long as Senate bill 310 passes. The bill provides money to cities with a population below 500,000, a category Toledo falls in. Kapszukiewicz says they will use this money to pay police and fire salaries.
"We have every hope and expectation that this will pass very soon, the governor will sign it and we would anticipate receiving this aid probably first week of June or so," said Kapszukiewicz.
In the best case scenario, Kapszukiewicz expects it will take two full years for the city to recover from this pandemic financially. But a big concern right now is if the city will continue to receive the same amount of funding it has in recent years as participation in this year's census is very low. The city of Toledo is only slightly above 50% participation in this year's census, well below other Ohio cities like Columbus.
Officials with the census are reminding you it is safe to fill. The information determines the amount of money a city gets for roads, schools and even hospitals. It also impacts the number of Ohio congressional representatives.
"In what we're experiencing right now, I really want to make it clear that the census data is used by the CDC for research in terms of pandemic," said Rose Simmons of the U.S. Census Bureau.
The census can be filled by phone, online or through the mail.
