TOLEDO, Ohio — Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz announced the proposed 2022 City of Toledo budget in a news conference Monday, and also outlined changes in his leadership team.
The 2022 proposed budget revenues total $890 million and expenditures total $883 million with a general fund budget of approximately $279.1 million.
The mayor proposes a capital improvement to general fund transfer of $18 million and a $1.1 million reduction in general fund balance. He said both of these are necessary to preserve essential city services and ensure the city is prepared to handle the impact of the income tax changes made by the State of Ohio regarding remote work.
“Next year we have even greater opportunity to move our city forward,” Kapszukiewicz said. "The 2022 budget coupled with the Toledo Recovery Plan will allow us to make unprecedented investments in our city."
The city of Toledo Charter requires the budget to be submitted annually to Toledo City Council by Nov. 15.
For the first time, the budget was created using OpenGov. This tool allows for the creation of the budget, creation of reporting documents and dashboards that are integrated with SAP and allows for increased transparency on city of Toledo spending.
SAFETY FORCES CHANGES
All details of the budget may be found at toledo.oh.gov/2022budget.
In addition to the budget, Kapszukiewicz announced leadership changes for his second term. The new safety director will be Brian Byrd and deputy safety director will be Angel Tucker.
Byrd will be retiring as chief from the Toledo Rescue and Fire Department after 33.5 years of service. His start date as safety director will be Feb. 11. The Toledo fire chief position will be posted internally.
"What we will be doing generally is working on the mayor's mission to support our safety forces and the community in an effort to bring them together to make the changes we need to make because we all know that there are some challenges out there," Byrd said.
Tucker will join the city of Toledo from the Oregon Police Department. His start date will be Jan. 3.
“The reorganization of my administration will allow us to focus on our priorities - public safety, investment in roads, opportunities for youth, and community and business development,” Kapszukiewicz said.
LEADERSHIP
- Abby Arnold and Karen Poore will serve as deputy mayors.
- Joe Fausnaugh will serve as the director of Parks and Youth Engagement Department.
- Doug Stephens will serve as director of the newly created Department of Transportation.
- Brandon Sehlhorst will serve as Director of the Economic Development Department and Sandy Spang will serve as Deputy Director.
- Rosalyn Clemmons will continue as Director of the newly named and organized Department of Housing and Community Development.
The Mayor’s letter to Toledo City Council, which is submitted with the budget:
Honorable Council President Matt Cherry and Members of Toledo City Council, I am pleased to present for your review and consideration the proposed 2022 operating and capital budgets.
With all we were able to accomplish together last year, I am confident this budget continues to move our city forward. In 2021 we hosted 30,000 visitors from all around the world for the Solheim Cup, which brought an economic impact of more than $40 million and shattered every record the LPGA had for the event.
Watching our city shine on a world stage is one of my highlights as Mayor. Toledo was ranked the #1 mid-sized metro in the US for new business development by Site Selection magazine. The ribbon-cutting of the new Amazon Delivery Station and announcement of the redevelopment at the former North Towne Square Mall accomplished the goal to bring both of the city’s abandoned mall sites back into productive use. These two sites alone are bringing more than 900 new jobs to Toledo.
We made historic investments in our residential roads, repairing 145 roads and over 53 lane miles.
The youth of our city enjoyed unprecedented opportunities through the “It’s Summertime Toledo” recreation program.
The launch of the Clean Toledo initiative resulted in over 7 million pounds of debris and nearly 10,000 tires being removed from the streets and alleys of our neighborhoods.
But our city’s most important assets are the residents it serves, and many of our residents struggled to recover from the pandemic.
I am proud of the debt forgiveness and rental assistance programs that we launched. Together these programs have helped thousands avoid eviction and water shut off.
Next year we have an even greater opportunity to move our city forward. The 2022 budget coupled with the Toledo Recovery Plan will allow us to make unprecedented investments in our city.
The 2022 proposed budget revenues total $890 million and expenditures total $883 million with a general fund budget of approximately $279.1 million.
We have proposed a capital improvement to general fund transfer of $18 million and a $1.1 million reduction in general fund balance.
Both of these are necessary to preserve essential city services and ensure we are prepared to handle the impact of the income tax changes made by the State of Ohio regarding remote work.
The reorganization of my administration will allow us to focus on our priorities - public safety, investment in roads, opportunities for youth, and community and business development.
Among many other things this budget accomplishes the following:
1. Continues our commitment to grow the size of our safety forces.
A. Allocates funds for a 40-member police class and;
B. 2 fire classes adding 80 new firefighters to the line.
2. Repairs 152 roads and over 60 lane miles, including the completion of the entire Anthony Wayne Trail.
3. Continues to invest in repairing damaged sidewalks to improve our neighborhoods.
4. Restructures several city departments to enhance the delivery of core services.
5. Invests in the training and development of our workforce.
I am proud of what we were able to accomplish together in 2021. With the infusion of the American Rescue Plan dollars, our Toledo Recovery Plan will allow us to make a once-in-a-generation investment in our community.
The partnership between City Council and the administration will be more important than ever in 2022 to ensure the work we do will change the trajectory of our community for generations to come.
I look forward to working with each of you on this very important task.
Sincerely,
Wade Kapszukiewicz,
Mayor