Toledo has collected more taxes so far this year than last year, according to administration officials who appeared before city council’s Finance, Debt, and Budget Oversight Committee.
Melanie Campbell, interim finance director, and John Zawisza, commissioner of taxation, provided the committee at its meeting Thursday with reports on the city’s finances for March.
Income tax collections for 2024 through March totaled about $36.8 million for the general fund, compared to $34.7 million through the same period last year.
For the road improvement fund, income tax collections totaled about $4.1 million through March this year, compared to $3.9 million through March last year.
Total collections through March were about $40.9 million compared to $38.5 million last year.
“For what was projected for this year, we’re running slightly ahead of pace,” Mr. Zawisza said.
Councilman George Sarantou, chairman of the committee, said after the meeting he was pleased by the report.
“Our overall tax revenue is very steady,” he said. “We are, at this point, on target to reach our goals.
“It looks like it will be a record year in 2023. We’re estimating around $233 million in tax collections for 2023,” Mr. Sarantou said. “We’re not done yet calculating last year. On a preliminary basis, it looks like our tax revenue for fiscal year 2023 from January through December will be ahead of the previous year, and that’s good. For tax year 2024, at this point, we’re holding steady and continue to be very consistent.”
There may be challenges ahead.
“Layoffs in companies, especially large companies, are always a concern. That’s why we have to watch our expenditures,” Mr. Sarantou said.
American Rescue Plan Act funds, earmarked for a variety of uses such the summer youth program and public safety salaries, will run out by the end of this year. The city has more than $11 million left in ARPA monies, which must be used by December.
“As a result, next year, we won’t have that infusion of federal money, so we have to be very careful on expenditures,” Mr. Sarantou said. “That’s why we’re carefully monitoring where our expenditures are, to make sure they match up with our revenue. We’ll be looking at proposals on what to do with that. There’s very strict federal standards we have to follow. We have to use it for specific items that benefit the citizens, like parks, police, fire, and youth programs.”
A budget task force will begin planning for the 2025 budget.
“We need to start now in terms of planning. What are our goals for next year? What is near and dear to me is we want to continue police and fire classes because we have 30 to 40 retirements every year. We have to make up for that. That’s one of the things we have to continue to work on,” Mr. Sarantou said.
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