Author: Renata Cló |
TOLEDO (WTOL) - Toledo and other municipalities across Ohio are projected to get more than 60 percent in additional tax revenue now that Gov. Mike DeWine signed a transportation budget that includes a 10.5 cent increase on the gas tax.
The average city in Ohio will receive an increase of 62.5 percent from the new budget, while townships will receive a 67 percent increase, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Aside from the 10-cent increase aimed at funding state and local road improvement projects, the transportation budget also includes the creation of the Catastrophic Snowfall Fund to provide assistance to local governments. It would also reduce funding to cities that report fines by using traffic cameras, like Toledo.
Although Toledo can receive more than $5 million in new tax revenue, Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz released a statement Wednesday saying he was displeased with the transportation budget and called the governor’s decision a “slap in the face.”
“Toledoans will now be forced to pay higher gas taxes, and yet incredibly enough, they will see their budget cut by $6.5 million. Meanwhile, our citizens will be less safe because the State of Ohio has taken away an important tool that our police and law enforcement professionals believe they need to protect us,” the statement said regarding the financial penalties that will be imposed on Toledo for using traffic cameras.
Kapszukiewicz also criticized Columbus politicians saying that “they hate Toledo, and they have now passed a budget that proves it.”
You can see how much other locations in northwest Ohio are projected to receive in additional tax revenue in the graphic below:
The changes and tax increase will go into effect July 1.
