Inside Lucas County Commissioners Meeting: July 1

TOLEDO – Two meetings for the Lucas County Board of County Commissioners were held on Tuesday – one meeting at 11 a.m. and another at 2 p.m. 

Meeting 1

Citizen Levy Review Committee

First on the agenda at 11 a.m. was a proposal brought forth by Thomas Susor, the chairman for the Lucas County Levy Review Committee (LCLRC), who requested a renewal for the levy supporting the Lucas County Children Services (LCCS) board. 

“So, 20 years ago the board of commissioners decided it was important for an independent review outside the commissioners to look at levies,” said Pete Gerken, Lucas County commissioner, as he introduced the LCLRC. “They’re very important. This is the 20th year of doing that, and they had a really big assignment this year, to look at Children’s Services.”

Susor presented the request for the renewal of a 1.8 mill levy to appear on the November General Election ballot to fund Lucas County Children Services. 

A mill levy is $1 taxed per $1,000 of property valuation, and the proposed renewal is for 1.8 mill. Since this is a renewal of a levy, those who live in Lucas County will not see an increase in property taxes due to a successful renewal of the levy. 

LCCS had a new levy for 1.5 mill approved just a year ago in 2024, and attempted to renew this 1.8 mill levy before its scheduled renewal in 2025. 

“This levy that we recently reviewed from Lucas County Children’s Services was the same levy we actually approved to be on the ballot a year ago in June, but through some complication with the filings they had to redo it now,” Susor explained. 

In August 2023, LCCS realized it was going to run out of funding before any of the three levies that fund LCCS would be naturally up for renewal; the earliest natural renewal of the levy would have been in 2025. 

According to LCCS director Randall Muth, LCCS’s “[placement] costs over the last five years have risen by 68 percent statewide. So, for every county in the state, they’ve gone up 68 percent, but metro counties, urban counties always get hit harder. Ours went up by 77 percent.”

Because of the rising placement costs, LCCS proposed an early renewal of the 2025 levy. The effect of being crunched for time and filing under a different Ohio Revised Code than the advised one limited the millage, so LCCS bifurcated their funding into separate mills. 

This Tuesday’s request was for the second of the proposed property tax levies for LCCS, as the first had already passed. 

“They still need to be on the ballot to fund their operations,” Gerken said. “This is to keep the system intact. That’s all this is. This is not to expand the system or or make the system more rich. This is to keep what they’re doing going, and if it doesn’t pass, the consequences to us are going to be pretty severe.”

Commissioners put forth a resolution that declared the levy necessary, the first part of a two-stage process to get the levy on the ballot in November. 

A July 8 meeting will determine whether the LCCS levy will be on the November ballot, but the LCLRC unanimously voted for the levy to be approved for the November ballot. 

“It’s still important that our taxpayers realize that freedom is not free,” Susor said. “Kids are not going to take care of themselves, and as our families deteriorate, we have to step up and take a positive role in helping these kids get by.

“It’s imperative to know that without taxpayer support, the most vulnerable population, our children, will be the victims of any shortfall in funds.”

Succinctly, Susor declared, “We reviewed it, it was viable and it’s needed,” with Lucas County Commissioners Gerken and Lisa Sobecki supporting the independent committee’s findings. They pointed to the rising costs of raising children as the overarching reason for funds running out before the levy’s planned renewal.

Fido Freedom Days and LC4

A five to six-month-old pit bull mix named Julep stood before the commissioners in the arms of Cassie Bloomfield, the community outreach coordinator for Lucas County Canine Care & Control (LC4), as the commissioners declared July 2-6, 2025, Fido Freedom Days. 

During Fido Freedom Days, any licensed dog picked up by LC4 will have their impound fees waved if the owner can show the dog’s license. Bloomfield stated before the commissioners, “Last year we took in over 50 dogs during the same time period, just over that extended holiday weekend alone.”

Jeff Nowak, the facilities director for Lucas County, gave a brief update of the progress on LC4’s new location at 1301 Monroe S. in Toledo. 

“We’re finishing up the construction on the building,” he said, and asked the commissioners for permission to advertise that some of the items and services provided at LC4’s old location would now be at the new Monroe St. location. 

Early fall or later this summer, Sobecki said, “we’ll be transitioning from our old LC4 to our new LC4. Anyone that’s been able to drive right down here on Monroe St. has been able to see the progress and the excitement that’s building around it.”

Support Services then sought approval from the board of commissioners for the June 2025 Purchase Order “Then and Now” Certificates, an amendment to the Lucas County Purchasing Policy Manual #11 and a different amendment to the Lucas County Commissioners’ Surplus Property Policy #42. 

All were approved.

Administration

Then the commissioners authorized Lucas County to enter into an agreement with the Hospital Council Of Northwest Ohio to Support Rental Assistance and Housing Stability Services. 

Meeting 2

The main subjects of the second meeting on July 1 were the two proposals for revised rate charges for water services proposed by Jim Shaw, the Lucas County sanitary engineer.

One revised rate charge was to the wastewater treatment and sanitary sewer collection charges, and another proposal revised rates on water charges for operation, maintenance and debt service.

The revised rate charges were approved by the commissioners. 

Gerken said, “Being able to maintain high quality services without disruptions at a small and reasonable increase over a few years is why I think people are not mad about it.”

Hearings were presented on June 10, 17 and 24 for people to comment on and inquire about the revised rate charges.

“I think people want to pay for good stuff,” Gerken said. 

With the revised rate charges, residents who get their water from the county, not from a municipality or city, will see a 4 percent rate increase to these services every year, starting in 2025 and ending in 2028. 

Shaw provided the Toledo Free Press with a visualization of the rate increase over the next four years for sample county residents.