TPS, city to blame for debts
2/10/2010Why do the City of Toledo and Toledo Public Schools believe taxes should be raised to help cover their debts?
Toledo schools were not practicing checks and balances and reportedly allowed their employees to steal funds.
Toledo's leaders have announced that a big part of their debt comes from uncollected fines.
When the proper procedures are fulfilled, the job will get done. I hope Toledoans stand against raising taxes.
The law-abiding, code-following citizens are already doing their part to maintain this city.
Let's not be enablers of systems that do not monitor their own spending. Let officials be accountable for their actions, or lack of actions.
There is no logical reason for such a huge debt on the part of the city or schools. We have not experienced a natural disaster. We have experienced a human disaster.
Janet Mohamed
Kenmore Avenue
Property owners are tired of being strapped with new Toledo Public Schools taxes ("TPS eyeing request for property or income tax," Feb. 4). The district squandered tobacco settlement money on new schools that weren't needed. Now it wants millions more in property or income taxes.
I saw school board members on TV. It looked as if at least half were sleeping or doing something not associated with the business of running TPS.
They need to think outside the box and figure something out.
Taxpayers are sick and tired of feeding this sucking, voracious maelstrom of an anti-matter hole.
We throw our money in and no results or improvement come out.
Kent Snyder
Westbrook Drive
Why should Toledo Public Schools tax all of us with a property tax or income tax?
Tax those who have children attending district schools.
There are user taxes on booze and gasoline. How about a tax just on the people who use the school?
Bernard Ball
Telegraph Road
For years, school officials have spoken about more instruction, better leadership, and greater parental involvement as ways to gain improvement in our public schools.
That talk needs to turn into action.
Did no one at Toledo Public Schools see these problems coming?
Are we just throwing money at this effort to be able to say we offer public education in our community?
Radical change is needed. Efforts need to be made to bring individuals to our city immediately who can keep our schools from complete failure. It will be our tax dollars well spent.
Henry Rybaczewski
Douglas Road
Toledo faces a $44 million budget deficit. Its population is going down.
Mayor Mike Bell is asking unions for pay and benefit concessions to balance the budget.
Meanwhile, Toledo wants to ask us for another income tax increase to balance the budget.
What a great time to give out raises to some city employees ("City officials give raises up to 26.9%," Feb. 9).
As a Toledo resident and business owner, I say good luck getting that tax increase passed this May.
Most businesses that face a large deficit try to cut back on expenses and postpone raises until they can show a profit and balance their budget.
This is starting to remind me of the big banks.
Mark Ridenour
Edgebrook Drive
The parking situation downtown is awful. It has obviously affected the economy and local small businesses' opinion of the parking authority employees who are doing their job.
However, the idea that ticketing more people will positively reinforce their behavior is sorely mistaken.
All it will do is drive people and businesses insane and away from downtown Toledo.
Maybe a ticket or a tax for parking in your own driveway?
Carty, is that you?
Brendan Wilde
Algonquin Parkway
In response to the Feb. 5 letter "Quit whining and just get on board," city workers, union workers included, have been on board for a couple of years.
There were many concessions in the last round of collective bargaining agreements.
Most city workers have taken a 10 to 20 percent decrease in wages and benefits. Every time there is a tax increase, city workers pay that tax also.
The letter writer asked whether city workers are more special than everyone else. No, but they are the only ones who are accused of slacking off on the job when they take their lunch break.
Maybe it is time to thank those hard-working individuals who keep the water flowing to faucets, keep the streets clean, and protect our homes. They do it with a lot of pride and little pay.
Rob Beckett
Anderson Parkway
The Blade believes Ohio should copy Oregon's state tax structure ("Ohio, copy Oregon?" Jan. 29).
Taxpayers want all the benefits that government provides but are unwilling to pay.
They are unwilling to increase the state income tax or have a sales tax. Liberals think the full burden should be on the wealthy and businesses.
Under Oregon's new tax plan, a company that loses money would be taxed. The wealthy and their businesses create the jobs the middle class needs.
When the burden of taxes and high union labor costs becomes excessive, companies leave.
States with low corporate taxes and right to work laws keep growing while the others are shrinking. This is why foreign companies build their plants in these states, not Michigan and Ohio.
Maybe instead of Oregon, you should have looked at New York. The government increased taxes on the wealthy and revenues went down, not up.
Raymond M. Elieff
Suder Ave.
Lake dumping seems now coming home to roost. Millions of dollars were spent over the past 25 years on so-called studies of water-quality impact.
More millions were wasted on developing so-called alternatives to lake dumping, many of them far out.
This studying went ahead despite an inability to prove even the tiniest negative impact of lake dumping.
Government biologists couldn't agree on water-quality standards, or how to do sampling and testing across the big, highly erodable delta filling up Maumee Bay.
The dynamic re-suspension processes of winds and currents across this shallow and naturally muddy water were too vast and complex. They overwhelmed anything a relatively tiny dredge might stir up.
Much the same technical folly has occurred at bigger U.S. coastal ports in recent years.
Unfortunately for Toledo, those bigger port cities have more people and more clout.
Many of those ports are not yet returning to more open-water dumping.
John A. McCarthy
Perrysburg