Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz Releases Statement on the Passage of the 2022 City of Toledo Budget

“Tonight’s passage of balanced general fund and capital budgets allows Toledo to make critical investments in its neighborhoods, particularly in public safety, while safeguarding the long-term financial health of our future.

More than anything else, these budgets focus on core city services, particularly public safety, roads and parks.

Tonight’s vote allows Toledo to hire 130 additional police officers and fire fighters, as well as an additional domestic violence prosecutor. It will also allow the purchase of 15 new police squad cars and a new ladder truck for the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department.

Notably, the balanced budgets passed tonight will allow Toledo to break the all-time record for road and sidewalk repair in the history of our city — a record set just last year. Building on our road repair efforts from 2021, this year Toledo will resurface 154 roads and 61.5 lane miles — both significant increases from the record-breaking work done last year.

Along with the resources from the American Rescue Plan, Toledo’s balanced budget will also allow us to invest $5.3 million in our city parks, a six-fold increase over what was invested in 2021. To cite just one parks-related program, the budget passed tonight will allow us to more than quadruple the number of total playground replacements from 2021.

This positive news for Toledo would not have been possible without the thoughtful and helpful partnership with Toledo City Council. In particular, President Matt Cherry and Finance Chair George Sarantou provided serious-minded leadership throughout this process, and they should be congratulated for their work building the consensus necessary to pass a balanced budget that meets the short- and long-term needs of the taxpayers.

Successful cities invest in themselves, particularly in the core services of city government. Successful cities also ensure that resources are invested wisely so that their long-term financial obligations can be met. These budgets meet both objectives.

Moving forward, tonight’s vote will allow Toledo to build on its economic momentum and continue to shape our city as a place people want to live, work and raise a family.”

####