Sylvania merger benefits outlined

Income tax may be top revenue source

The Toledo Blade
Article published Friday, March 2, 2007

Lynn Bachelor discusses a merger study with Sylvania and Sylvania Township residents. Hugh Hinton, left, helped in the study. Frank Kozak is feasibility committee chairman. (THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER)

Sylvania-area residents last night listened to details about a possible merger of the city of Sylvania and Sylvania Township, trying to get a better idea of how a merger would impact their community - and their wallets.

About 130 people attended a public forum at the Sylvania Senior Center, a smaller group than the 275 people who packed the center last month when the recently completed merger study was introduced.

The study, commissioned by the Sylvania Community Improvement Corp., was done by the University of Toledo's Urban Affairs Center.

It gives estimates of potential financial benefits of a merger. Income taxes, not property taxes, could become the primary source of revenue.

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 the 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.

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.

Lynn Bachelor, a faculty research associate with the Urban Affairs Center, outlined the merger process.

She emphasized that the process is very much driven by voters in the affected communities and is in their hands, and that the process starts with the residents' involvement.

She said if the merger commission is set up in November, the earliest the merger would be put to a vote would be 2009.

That, said Gary Madrzykowski, vice chairman of the Sylvania CIC, would provide 24 months of open hearings and public input.

"This is not a hurried marriage," he said.

Rather, he said it is a slow, deliberate process, providing plenty of time for everyone to comment on it.

He noted that if voters approve the creation of the merger commission, it would simply mean that residents want more information on it.

Troy Dyer, a 12-year-old township resident, asked Frank Kozak, who chaired the merger feasibility committee, whether he supported the merger.

Mr. Kozak replied he didn't care what the outcome was when the study began; he just wanted to know what was best for the community.

The study, he said, suggests that it makes sense from a financial standpoint to continue to explore the merger. He said he is in support of the findings and further study.

Young Dyer said that he attended the meeting because he lives in the township and wants to know what can be done to improve it.

He is neutral on whether the merger should occur.

"If it involves a really big tax cut or really higher taxes, I wouldn't want it," he said.