Toledo voters could have yet another choice to make in November.

Two city councilman confirmed Thursday they intend to seek their colleagues' support next week for placing a 1-mill levy request on the ballot. The tax, if approved, would be used to fund the city's parks infrastructure and recreation programs, which have been ravaged by years of budget cuts and neglect.

The 10-year levy would generate an estimated $3 million annually and cost the owner of a $100,000 home $30 in annual property tax.

To ensure that the money generated would not be subject to the city administration using it to fund pay raises or other things whenever Toledo finds itself under economic strain, the levy money would be placed in a special fund solely for parks and recreation, keeping it separate from other income to the city, Councilmen Lindsay Webb and Steven Steel said.

Ms. Webb and Mr. Steel also want to create a Toledo Parks, Athletic, and Recreation Commission made up of community members representing a wide range of interests.

The commission would advise council on how to meet the city's recreation needs. When asked what will keep the city from taking the money from the fund, Ms. Webb insisted establishing the commission would help ensure that money collected from the tax is used specifically for programming needs and infrastructure, and not raises for employees.

"As it stands right now, recreation is subject to the ups and downs of the economy and the general fund," Ms. Webb said. "What haunts us is we find the communities that don't have dedicated funds for recreation find they have no recreation."

Whether Ms. Webb and Mr. Steel can obtain the eight votes on council they need to support initiating the levy request remains to be seen.

Several councilmen contacted Thursday said they had not yet had a chance to fully review the legislation and reach decisions.

Councilmen Rob Ludeman and George Sarantou, however, expressed doubts that voters would approve a new property tax, given continuing economic problems and other levy requests, including one for Toledo Public Schools.

"I think the timing is not the best," Mr. Ludeman said. "The economy is just not where people are going to be interested in being besieged by levy requests. … It might have been a good thing to request in 2003 [or] 2004 when the economy was booming, but it's not a real prudent course at this time."

Their doubts were seconded by conservative John Marshall, a Tea Party supporter who is running as a Republican candidate for Lucas County commissioner.

He agreed recreation is important, especially for children, but expressed concern about asking Toledoans to pay more taxes.

"I have compassion about it, but if you can't afford it, you can't afford it," he said.

"With what Toledo City Council is doing with giving benefits to [domestic partners], it seems like city council wants to give away the store and then go back to the public and get more money."

The decision to seek a levy follows months of committee meetings, during which community leaders researched the city's recreation infrastructure, programming, and financing needs.

What they found was Toledo lags far behind most other communities in providing recreational opportunities to its residents.

While most cities dedicate between 4 and 5 percent of their operating budgets to parks and recreation, Toledo spends only 1 percent, according to research sponsored by the Recreation District Steering Committee, a group set up by Mr. Steel and Ms. Webb that includes representatives from agencies such as the YMCA/JCC of Greater Toledo and Toledo Public Schools.

Spending on park maintenance in Toledo is about $3,800 an acre below that of similar park and recreation agencies in the Midwest, the committee's report states.

Toledo's parks staff is 90 people short when compared with similar municipalities, Ms. Webb said.

This has resulted in deteriorating park infrastructure and equipment, swimming pools left to rot, a lack of spending on new facilities, and severely limited recreation options for children and other community members, the committee found.

"I knew there were problems. I didn't know it was that bad," Mr. Steel said.

"There's been 40 years of decline and neglect. We're not going to make that up quickly."

In addition to the levy, the councilmen said they will ask council to approve a $25,000 expenditure from the Toledo Athletic Commission Trust Fund to pay for the development of a parks and recreation master plan.

The plan would be used to help decide how to spend future levy monies.

Mayor Mike Bell's administration is supportive of the levy request, city spokesman Jen Sorgenfrei said Thursday.

The mayor "supports the effort to put it on the ballot. He thinks that it is an opportunity to give residents a say in what they feel our funding priorities should be when it comes to parks and recreation," Ms. Sorgenfrei said.

"Our kids deserve the best, as the kids in surrounding communities have."

Todd Tibbits, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA/JCC of Greater Toledo and a steering committee member, said it's important to give voters a chance to decide how important recreation is to them.

Improving the city's parks and recreation offerings could have a profound effect on residents' quality of life and health, he said.

"We do believe that there's a need for an improved parks and recreation system," Mr. Tibbits said. "That can only be done through additional resources."

But Ruthie Kucharewski, director of the recreation and recreation therapy division at the University of Toledo, said she is confident city residents will support the levy.

Ms. Kucharewski, who said she has lived in Toledo for more than three decades, said it has been devastating to watch how the city's recreation programming and park facilities have declined over the years.

If Toledo does nothing, families will continue to move out of the city to seek better recreation opportunities for their children, she said.

Other cities and suburbs, including Sylvania and Bowling Green, already have approved dedicated funding streams for recreation, she noted.

"This is not news to [Toledo residents] about our parks and recreation being of a low standard," Ms. Kucharewski said.

"I think the citizens of Toledo will rise to the occasion. I think people love living here who were born and raised here and they want to be proud."

First Published June 8, 2012, 4:49 a.m.