Toledo Budget Fallout: 73 Layoffs on the Table After Tax Defeat

Toledo is staring at a worst-case scenario of about 73 municipal layoffs — roughly half of them in police and fire — after voters rejected Issue 16, a temporary income tax hike for public safety and neighborhood services, at the ballot box.

City leaders are now deciding what to cut, and residents could start noticing changes as early as January. Issue 16 would have raised Toledo's income tax by a quarter percent, generating roughly $25 million a year for police, fire and neighborhood safety. That revenue is now off the table.

What does the defeat change?

Toledo City Council President Vanice Williams said some cuts may be unavoidable after the measure failed.

"I do not want to cut off, cut people and have people lose their jobs during this time. But the realistic thing is, we may have to," Williams said.

The menu of possible reductions goes beyond headcount:

• Ending curbside recycling
• Reducing the number of crews working on blight
• Closing city pools
• Skipping a new police and fire recruit class this year

That last item carries a hidden cost. "Without having a fire and police class this year, that's going to hurt because we actually have a great number of people that can retire out of both forces, out of fire and with police, and not being able to recoup them is going to be hard," Williams said.

What happens to city workers?

For the roughly 73 employees exposed to the worst-case scenario, the timeline is tight. Savings elsewhere in the budget come first; layoffs are the fallback. Williams said she has done this exercise before.

"Last year, when I looked at our budget, I cut $120,000 out of our services budget and supplies budget to try to help save people from getting laid off. And that's our goal this time," Williams said.

Anything's on the table, she stressed. "But right now, anything's on the table. We got to make sure that we're able to balance this budget," Williams said.

What comes next?

The proposed 2027 budget is due Nov. 15. None of the cuts are final. City Council still must review the spending plan and decide which services survive and which go.

For Toledo's municipal workforce, the practical reading is this: a quarter-percent tax increase worth about $25 million annually failed, and now a budget clock running to mid-November will determine whether roughly 73 jobs — half in public safety — disappear starting as early as the new year.