TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - More Toledoans voted against Issue 2 than for it on Tuesday night.
Issue 2 would have provided an additional quarter percent on top of the current three-quarter percent temporary income tax.
Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson says with Issue 2 going down there will be no additional money for residential road repair and the city will only be able to continue with regular operations. She says the defeat of Issue 2 on Tuesday means there will not be a new police class and funding for the COPS grant is now in jeopardy.
However, the mayor says that despite the no vote on Issue 2, the need hasn't gone away and she will work hard to convince voters of the need for tax dollars to fix the streets.
"It doesn't mean that I accept the fact that we have a city that can't take care of itself and fix its infrastructure," said Hicks-Hudson. "We've got between now and November to present that to the citizens, and to prove to them our need for this additional money to fix our residential streets, as well as to prove to our citizens that we are very serious about making sure that we are spending their tax dollars correctly."
The current three-quarter percent temporary income tax will expire at the end of the year.
The mayor said the price tag to get residential streets fixed sits at $750 million and it is the issue she heard about from voters over and over during her mayoral campaign last year.
The mayor also says $10.4 million will be taken out of the city's Capital Improvement Fund and put into the city's General Fund to finish out 2016.
