TOLEDO — Lucas County voters have a full ballot waiting for them on November 3, with local issues that will shape library hours, school budgets and public-safety funding for years. A new voter’s guide lays out the measures that appear only on Toledo and Lucas County ballots.
Issue 8 is the Toledo Lucas County Public Library’s ask: a five-year, three-mill operating levy costing $105 for every $100,000 of property value, raising about $34 million a year. Library executive director Jason Kucsma says the money would close the gap left by state funding cuts and restore hours the library was forced to eliminate. Issue 9 is Toledo Public Schools’ five-year, 6.9-mill levy for current expenses — $242 per $100,000 of value — sought amid state funding cuts and declining enrollment.
Issue 13 is a renewal of the Imagination Station’s existing 0.17-mill levy for five years — $3 per $100,000 — collecting roughly $1.3 million annually for the downtown science center. And for city of Toledo residents only, Issue 16 proposes a 0.25% income tax dedicated to “neighborhood safety expenditures,” including the police and fire departments and what the ballot language calls “criminal gang disruption.”
Early in-person voting is already underway across Ohio and runs through November 1. Lucas County voters can stop by the county early vote center before weighing in on a ballot stacked with local levies beneath the statewide and federal races.
