With little discussion, the Metroparks Toledo Board of Park Commissioners unanimously agreed Wednesday to take the next step toward getting its proposal for a 10-year, 1.4-mill replacement levy on the May 6 primary ballot.
The 5-0 vote directed Matt Cleland, the park district’s chief financial officer, to certify the ballot proposal with the Lucas County Board of Elections no later than 4 p.m. on Feb. 5.
The vote was taken inside the Glass City Metropark Pavilion during the board’s monthly meeting.
The board set the ballot proposal in motion with an affirmative vote at its Dec. 18 meeting.
If approved, the replacement levy would replace the 10-year, 1.4-mill operating levy voters approved on Nov. 7, 2017.
According to figures found in the board’s resolution, the replacement levy would cost property owners $19 more a year more in taxes for every $100,000 of taxable property, about $49 a year instead of $30 a year.
The replacement levy would generate about $16.3 million a year. The levy’s current tax valuation, as certified this month by the Lucas County Auditor’s Office, is $11.7 million.
Metroparks wants to pass a replacement levy to reset what’s due to expire in 2028. Doing so would push the expiration date out to 2035.
The May 6 primary ballot is currently scheduled only for Toledo and Waterville city government races, but a Metroparks ballot question would be open to all Lucas County voters, not just those who reside in those two cities.
The only two options for the park district are on a primary in the spring or during a general election in November, Tim Monaco, Lucas County Board of Elections deputy director, told The Blade in a December phone conversation.
The current 1.4-mill operating levy is a continuation of one that goes back to the first one that voters approved in 2007.
Metroparks currently has two other levies in effect, a 2.0-mill levy for the Glass City Riverwalk project that was approved in 2020 and a 0.9-mill operations levy that was approved in 2022.
Both of those were for 10 years, too. The latter was passed mostly to open and operate new parks.
Also at the meeting, Brad Hooven, the park district’s manager of self-performed construction, gave an overview of lower-profile — yet important — maintenance projects and improvements made to multiple Metroparks properties in 2024 and laid out his plan for what his department hopes to accomplish in 2025.
Upcoming projects include a seed stratification room at Blue Creek Metropark, shelter improvements at Providence Metropark, a shelter at Manhattan Marsh Preserve Metropark, replacement fishing dock and kayak launch at Farnsworth Metropark, and all-purpose trail resurfacing at Pearson Metropark.
Also on tap this year, Mr. Hooven said, is expanded parking at the Ravine Area of Glass City Metropark, formerly Ravine Park.
The name change came after Metroparks Toledo inherited the park from the city of Toledo.
The need for a bigger and better parking lot at the latter, commissioners agreed, is a pleasant surprise because Ravine Area of Glass City Metropark has surpassed expectations for usage since it was upgraded with modern, ADA-compliant playground equipment in 2023.
Ravine Park is part of the Garfield Heights neighborhood that Metroparks has agreed to improve as part of its historic Glass City Metropark/Riverwalk investment along the Maumee River shoreline. So is other East Toledo land in the vicinity of Waite High School.
First Published January 29, 2025, 5:58 p.m.
