Toledo City Council to vote on uniform water contract with regional customer communities

By: Tim Schneider, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce

At its regular meeting scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on September 3, Toledo City Council is expected to vote on Ordinance 417-19 which would authorize the city to enter into uniform contracts with each of its customer jurisdictions for the supply of water. Last year, Toledo voters approved an amendment to the city charter establishing a Regional Water Commission that would involve the contract jurisdictions in capital and water rate setting decisions. The draft contract negotiated with the prospective participating jurisdictions includes a 40-year term and a uniform wholesale rate based on the cost of service.

Council is also expected to vote on the following:

• Ordinance 392-19 which would authorize various adjustments to the current year’s approved city budget. Notable adjustments to estimates include the following:
  • Decreasing traffic enforcement camera revenue by $2 million due to “revenue trends”.
  • Increasing monthly recycling expenses by $1.3 million due to increased costs.
  • Decreasing workers’ compensation expenditures by $3.9 million due to state rebates.
  • Increasing state fuel tax revenue by $2.5 million due to the recent increase in the tax.
  • Eliminating the budgeted $3,537,000 transfer from the capital improvement program budget to the general fund budget.
    
    
• Ordinance 420-19 which would approve an amended Joint Economic Development Zone (JEDZ) agreement between Toledo, Maumee and Monclova Township. Changes would include extending the JEDZ contract by 20 years and providing financial assistance for the planned I-475 interchange at US 20A.
  
  

• Ordinance 424-19 which would approve a collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 20 for a new term of January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2021. The unit includes 82 employees at the Division of Solid Waste and the Division of Water Reclamation. The terms of the agreement include base pay increases of 1.5 percent in 2019, 2.5 percent in 2020, and 3 percent in 2021.
  
  

Two measures related to designating additional state fuel tax revenue to the city for maintenance and repair of streets are expected to be referred to Council’s Budget Oversight Committee for a hearing at 1:00 p.m. on September 11. Resolution 410-19 would declare Council’s support for designating 80 percent of expected increased revenue for residential streets and 20 percent for commercial neighborhood streets beginning in 2020. Ordinance 411-19 would authorize issuance of $25 million in bonds for work on the streets with debt repayment to be made over five years using the expected increase in fuel tax revenue.

Ordinance 412-19, which would establish a point system against responsible parties of commercial property for code violations, is expected to be referred to Council’s Neighborhoods, Community Development & Health Committee. Those assessed 12 or more points in a 12-month period, or 18 in a 24-month period, would be prohibited from commercial use of the property. A hearing on the ordinance is not currently scheduled.
 
Ordinance 413-19, which would expand the area around a subject property in which property owners are required to be sent mailed notices pertaining to zoning proposals, is expected to be sent to the Toledo Plan Commission for its review. The ordinance would require that notices be mailed to owners of property within one-quarter mile radius of the property. Currently notices are only required to be mailed to owners of property abutting or directly across the street from the subject property.

Council is expected to hold until its September 17 voting session two ordinances regarding lead-safe housing:

• Ordinance 381-19 would repeal the city’s current lead law and enact a new one designating the Department of Neighborhoods & Business Development, instead of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, as the enforcing entity. It would also expand residential rental properties included in enforcement to those with one or more units, instead of only those with up to four units.

 

• Ordinance 382-19 would approve $75,000 to create the position of Assistant City Auditor to support the lead-safe program. The position would be responsible for seeking and monitoring grants to provide funding for a “lead conference”, lead test kits, education, and marketing.

 
All Council meetings, including committee hearings, are held in Council Chambers on the first floor of One Government Center located on Jackson Boulevard in downtown Toledo

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​​Tim Schneider
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​As Manager for Local Government Advocacy, Tim Schneider advocates for local policies and laws that safeguard and foster a pro-business environment in the Toledo Region. Tim has more than 10 years of legislative and public policy experience with the local, state and federal levels of government.