A resident said Perrysburg City Council’s plan to ask voters to replace the refuse tax stinks.
Sara Weisenburger told council at its March 18 meeting it should use its $28 million in savings and carryover to fund garbage collection and should trash a 1-mill levy.
“The city can fully fund our garbage program without asking the citizens for more,” she said.
Ms. Weisenburger also said council should be mindful of the school district, which has three consecutive failed levies and is implementing $6 million in cuts for the next school year.
“The schools have not passed the last three levies, in part because our taxes in Perrysburg are high,” she said. “I think this would be a goodwill offering to the city, to the citizens, to the schools, to eliminate a tax. I know it’s small compared to what the schools need, but why take more than you need when there’s other entities that need our money?”
“The city is in a very strong financial position,” she added. “The city’s run well; this is not a complaint on that.”
The budget has $28 million in carryover, Ms. Weisenburger said.
“That’s not the city’s money — it’s the citizens’ money,” she noted. “We’re holding on to a lot of money. I don’t see the necessity for continuing to ask citizens for more.”
Councilman Mark Weber said the garbage tax is complicated.
“Commercial business pays for their trash pickup separately,” he said. “If refuse collection was to be paid out of the general fund, business owners could demand that they’re entitled to the same services as residents.
“This would not only put a strain on the public service department, it would cost the Perrysburg taxpayers actually more money in the long run,” Mr. Weber said.
The resolution to replace a 1-mill, two-year levy for the collection and disposal of garbage or refuse, which is expected to be on the Nov. 4 ballot, passed 6-1, with Kevin Fuller, council president, voting no.
“We do have significant funds,” he said after the meeting. “The thought that always crosses my mind, is if the levy weren’t to pass, where do we make cuts?”
The 1-mill, two-year refuse levy is currently collecting $852,892 and would collect $1.04 million if the replacement levy is passed. Currently, the owner of a $100,000 home is paying $27.94 annually for the levy, and that person will pay $35 a year if a replacement levy is approved.
The current levy has been in place since Nov. 7, 2023, and is expiring Dec. 31. The refuse levy was first approved in 1987.
The total refuse and recycling budget in 2024 was nearly $1.9 million.
The majority of council also voted to increase the city’s hotel tax from 3 percent to 6 percent, effective May 1.
The city collected $820,000 in 2024 from the existing 3 percent lodging tax, and that money was distributed between the convention and visitors bureau and the city. The city’s percentage is deposited into the general fund, which is used to pay for police, fire, and other administrative costs, along with quality-of-life activities such as the fireworks and services associated with the farmers market.
The proceeds from the tax increase will be used for economic development and for increasing costs associated with the fire division, city Administrator Joe Fawcett said in a previous interview.
The existing lodging tax has been in place since 2007.
Mr. Fawcett said Lucas County’s rate is 10 percent, Bowling Green’s is 4 percent, Rossford’s is 6 percent, and Perrysburg and Lake townships’ are 3 percent.
Before the vote, Councilman Barry VanHoozen said he was not at the March 4 meeting where this tax increase was discussed.
“I just feel like I need to articulate what my position’s going to be,” he said. “This is a question of who should pay for our stuff.”
“My concern about this bed tax is it’s not going to impact just the hoteliers, it’s also going to impact the tourists — where they spend money and how they spend money,” Mr. VanHoozen said. “For the reason that we want to be pro-business and pro-development, I will not be supporting this.”
Mr. Fuller also voted against the increase.
“We’re trying to be pro-business and an additional tax at this time, I’m not very comfortable with,” he said.
He said he is also looking for more information on how the city can collect the same type of tax from short-term residence rentals.
“I completely understand this from the hoteliers — they [the short-term rentals] are not being held to the same standards that the hotels are,” Mr. Fuller said.
The ordinance passed 5-2, with Cory Kuhlman, Tim McCarthy, Rick Rettig, Kerry Wellstein, and Mr. Weber in favor.
First Published March 24, 2025, 8:26 p.m.
