Lucas County approved as TARTA member, paving way for greater tax revenue

7/10/2017
BY SARAH ELMS
BLADE STAFF WRITER
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    • Ottawa Hills village councilmen on Monday approved a Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority proposal to add Lucas County as a member so the transit authority can pursue a change in funding from a property tax to a sales tax.

    All seven TARTA members — Ottawa Hills, Toledo, Waterville Maumee, Sylvania, Sylvania Township, and Wood County’s Rossford — must approve the measure in order to get the sales tax proposal on the November ballot.

    TARTA plans to ask voters to approve a 0.5-percent Lucas County-wide sales tax, which would also be collected in Rossford.

    The new sales tax would generate about $30 million and replace TARTA’s $2.5 million property tax, which now generates about $13 million annually. About $10 million of that $30 million would be paid back to TARTA communities to be spent on roads, bridges, sidewalks, and other transportation-related projects.

    Contact Sarah Elms at selms@theblade.com or 419-724-6103 or on Twitter @BySarahElms.