Bell: reaction to budget a mixed bag

Toledo Mayor Mike Bell has three types of people calling his office lately: those who admire his effort, those who hate his proposed budget, and those who hate it even more.

"I get people who are angry and people who say you are on the right track," Mr. Bell said yesterday, just 24 hours after submitting his plan to balance a $48 million general fund deficit.

"Just about anywhere I go, it comes from all different portions of the city. They are not mad, and some know it has to be done," he said.

But some senior citizens in Toledo yesterday were reeling over Mr. Bell's proposal to hike the trash collection fee to $15 a month.

Ann Pettaway, 81, who lives near the Dorr Street-Secor Road intersection, said she simply cannot afford that much.

"I am a senior citizen, and we have to pay our house taxes, we have to buy our medications, and we have a son who is out of work, so what are you trying to do? Starve out the city?" she said. "The trash fee is too high."

Mrs. Pettaway said she would rather that the city collect trash every other week to keep the fee lower.

Others took issue with Mr. Bell's plan to eliminate the income tax credit currently granted to Toledoans who work outside the city.

And city union leaders were gearing up for a legal battle against Mr. Bell's attempt to declare "exigent circumstances" and force them to accept concessions without negotiating changes to their contracts.

But members of the mayor's transition teams and his Citizens Special Investigation task force lined up behind the bulk of his plan, which also calls for an 8 percent sports and event tax and slashing $10.6 million in spending.

Dan Frick, retired managing partner of Ernst & Young of Toledo, said he agreed with the direction Mayor Bell took with the proposed 2010 budget.

"The ones that are tougher than the other will be the zero credit for income tax - that's a real tough one," said Mr. Frick, a CSI team member. "It would be nice if they got a request to put on the ballot to be able to use the [capital improvement] money more flexibly."

Toledo City Council did vote

12-0 on Feb. 16 to ask voters in May to give the city greater leeway over how a separate 0.75 percent income tax is spent. With that, the mayor will be able to divert more money from capital projects to operational costs such as police, fire, and refuse. That tax is part of the city's entire 2.25 percent income tax.

That money cannot be included in the proposed general fund budget since voters could reject the idea and the funding is not guaranteed.

"The tough nuts are getting the unions to come forward," Mr. Frick said.

Mr. Bell's plan does not include any layoffs, which he said cannot solve the problem.

If the city on Jan. 1 had laid off all 176 so-called nonessential employees paid for with general fund money, including the mayor and city council, the 2010 savings would have been $13 million. That would exclude the police and fire departments.

Louis Escobar, a former city council president who is on the CSI task force and transition team, credited the mayor for trying to maintain services.

"He has been very, very clear that he doesn't want to cut services and in order to not cut services, he cannot cut any more staff," Mr. Escobar said. "I was much more hopeful the unions would have come back if not with what he asked for, at least with something. So I am very disappointed."

Mr. Escobar said if he were still on council, he would vote for all of the components in Mr. Bell's plan except for eliminating the tax credit, which will generate about $8 million.

"I understand there are some on council who say that is unfair, and I would agree, but we need to open up talks with the other jurisdictions and find out if we can work out some kind of percentage so we would share in the taxes," he said. "But before I would say no to the tax credit, I would have to come up with something to replace it."

Mr. Bell's proposal anticipates that the city's employee pension pickups would be eliminated and city workers would pay a greater contribution for health insurance from both union and exempt employees.

Last week, the mayor received letters from Dan Wagner, president of the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association, and Wayne Hartford, president of Firefighters Local 92, who said their members had given enough.

Although the letters said they were still willing to talk, both union leaders said they could not accept the givebacks the mayor was requesting.

Neither Mr. Wagner nor Mr. Hartford could be reached for comment yesterday.

Chuck Collinson, business representative for Teamsters Local 20, which represents the refuse collectors, declined to comment.

Lawrence Conway, former dean of the University of Toledo's College of Business Administration, said the mayor was "courageous" for delivering the proposed budget.

"We may disagree with some of the items, but we have to look at the overall situation and recognize that there are no easy solutions," he said.

"If any group objects to any part, it would be contingent upon that group to come up with an alternative."

Oregon Mayor Mike Seferian said eliminating the tax credit would be a hardship for Toledoans working in his city.

"He will double-tax them and that's a tough sell," Mr. Seferian said. "I wouldn't want to try and do that, but I know he is in a difficult situation."

If council members approve the idea, Toledoans working in Oregon - where the rate is 2.25 percent - would continue to pay Oregon that amount, plus the 2.25 percent for Toledo. And those working in Perrysburg, as another example, would pay that city's 1.5 percent plus the 2.25 percent to Toledo.

Mr. Seferian said Mr. Bell might have been better off asking for an increase to Toledo's 2.25 percent income tax. Mr. Bell had considered asking council to ask voters in May to approveraising the income tax to 2.5 percent, but he withdrew that request.

"I wish Mike well, and I thank God every day that I am not faced with those same issues," Mr. Seferian said.

Contact Ignazio Messina at:

imessina@theblade.com

or 419-724-6171.