Article published Thursday, February 8, 2007
Presentation of a feasibility study for the proposed Sylvania-Sylvania Township merger caused a mixed reaction last night at the first public forum held to discuss it.
Released earlier this month by the University of Toledo's Urban Affairs Center, the study gave estimates of potential financial benefits of such a merger.
Income taxes, not property taxes, could become the primary source of revenue, said Hugh Hinton, the director of the master's of public administration program at the University of Toledo.
He was one of two speakers presenting the study, which was commissioned by the Sylvania Area Community Improvement Corp.
"I am dead set against it," said Bill Emery, 55, a computer programmer who lives in the city of Sylvania.
"All this merger really is is another attempt by the city of Sylvania to annex Sylvania Township. ... [This time] with no resistance. ... When was the last time you saw the taxes go down?"
Mr. Emery was one of about 250 people who met in the Sylania Senior Center, 7140 Sylvania Ave.
Each received an executive summary of the study.
The study includes a proposal to extend the city's 1.5 percent income tax to the township, including a large number of workers who live outside of it.
Consolidating the city and township could generate an additional $12 million a year in income tax revenue from the current township, largely through income taxes that would be imposed on nonresidents.
The increased revenue from income tax likely would allow residents and businesses to save nearly $9 million a year in property taxes if Sylvania and Sylvania Township merge, according to the study.
"I am less apprehensive after listening to the presentation," said Mike Croke, 58, a 30-year resident of Sylvania Township who is a middle-school teacher in Blissfield.
"I think the procedure sounds logical and very thought-out and I am more reassured after tonight that it will be a slow progress," he said last night.
Mr. Croke was one of several attendees who briefly took the floor after a 50-minute presentation to ask a question seeking clarification of some points in the study.
A follow-up public forum dedicated exclusively to questions and answers will be held at 7 p.m. March 1 at the same location.