Article source for : Bad idea proposed by Teamwork Toledo
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"Teamwork Toledo":http://teamworktoledo.com/ wants Lucas County residents to pay for the managing of "Toledo City parks":http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/412/Toledo_City_Parks.
The "Metroparks of the Toledo area":http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/ should denounce this idea immediately if they haven't already. Residents in other communities in "Lucas County":http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/22/Lucas_County_Ohio should express public outrage to this idea.
The Metroparks system in Lucas County is funded by county-wide property taxes along with memberships. Why would residents in Berkey, Whitehouse, Oregon, etc. or residents outside Lucas County want a portion of their property taxes or membership dues go toward managing Toledo city parks that are supposed to be funded by taxes from Toledo residents? Why penalize other communities for Toledo's failures? Answer: because it's the Toledo-way.
2008 Metroparks "budget":http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/content/files/Board_Minutes/2008_budget_book.pdf info [pdf file]. I suppose it could be open to interpretation, but managing Toledo city parks seems to violate the guiding principles of the metropark system.
more.
h2. Lame Idea Tried Before
Excerpts from an April 2004 posting at the Metroparks Web site titled "History of Metroparks Levies ":http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/archives/display.asp?id=32 :
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Those who care about the future of Metroparks – and that’s a lot of people – know that property tax levies provide the park district’s financial foundation. Without levies, Metroparks would have long ago withered and, if not died, kept only the barest services alive.
Metroparks had lost an effort the previous year [1990] despite polls that indicated an easy victory. Then, a *last-minute snag* came from a pair of *Toledo councilmen who announced that Metroparks should share its levy funds with Toledo city parks*. In the resulting *confusion*, the 1990 levy was defeated.
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Ah, so the idea of siphoning county money to be used for Toledo city parks has been proposed before, and it caused the defeat of a Metroparks levy. The Metroparks today needs to denounce this idea by Teamwork Toledo, or future Metroparks levies could be jeopardized.
h2. Blade Story
Jun 5, 2009 - Toledo Blade - "Candidates urge turnover of parks to Metroparks":http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090605/NEWS16/906050352
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A group of political newcomers calling itself Teamwork Toledo announced a proposal for streamlining [ *Toledo* ] city government and paring expenses: turn the city's parks over to the Toledo Area Metroparks. "An orderly, negotiated, and structured transition would save [ *Toledo* ] taxpayer dollars at a crucial time when there is a duplication of services," the group's leader, Kevin Milliken, said at a news conference at Walbridge Park.
He said he believed such a move would achieve "multimillion dollars in savings" that could be used to fund a new [ *Toledo* ] firefighters' class and rehire *Toledo's* 75 laid-off police officers. "The Metroparks already has the managers, mowers, and maintenance staff in greater Toledo. There are efficiencies to be found here," Mr. Milliken, a former television and radio reporter, said.
Ms. Lyons noted that there was a precedent for the turnover of municipal property to the Metroparks: The former Toledo Workhouse in Waterville Township has become part of the Metroparks' Blue Creek Conservation Area. Mr. Washington said opponents of the proposal might argue that the city parks, with a focus on recreation, have a different mission from the Metroparks, with its emphasis on preservation.
Teamwork Toledo members describe themselves as a coalition of six independent candidates for at-large Toledo City Council seats. Ideologically, Mr. Milliken said, they are "fiscal conservatives with a social conscience."
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And apparently, Teamwork Toledo is continuing the hard-core, backwards-thinking, destructive, Toledo-centric "mindset":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/1613/Toledo_officials_opposed_to_education#Councils_shock_n_awe_stance of :
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Toledo-based public officials view unigov or regionalism as how can *other communities +serve+ Toledo*, instead of how all communities together can help the "region":http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/tag/LakeErieWest.
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* unigov = a combination of City/County Govt.
* regionalism = involves more than one county.
h2. Teamwork Toledo Hypocrisy?
From the "about":http://teamworktoledo.com/about page for Teamwork Toledo:
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Teamwork Toledo is a six-person slate of fiscally conservative, independent candidates who represent three core beliefs:
1.) *No new taxes*
2.) Toledo city government should be back to the basics—public safety, public services, and the city budget..
3.) Toledo city government should do everything it can to foster a more business-friendly attitude and environment to grow our local economy, encourage new investment, and create jobs.
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Yet, if the Metroparks accepts this boneheaded idea by Teamwork Toledo, Lisa Renee theorizes in a Jun 5, 2009 Glass City Jungle "posting":http://glasscityjungle.com/wordpress/?p=7621 :
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It could however create a situation where Lucas County residents would be asked for an *increase in the two levies* that currently fund the Toledo Area Metroparks if the Metroparks even agreed to take or purchase the land as was done with the Blue Creek Conservation Area. It would also raise questions as far as the City pools since they are located in City Parks and some of the other recreational facilities that are within Toledo Parks.
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It makes sense that in the future, Lucas County voters would have to agree to surrender more property tax money to the Metroparks in order for the Metroparks to meets its current, levy-funded obligations and to satisfy their new role of managing Toledo city parks. It would be fraudulent or at least unethical for the Metroparks to use current levy money to fund Toledo city parks when that money is meant for other projects.
h2. Property Taxes
October 2007 posting titled [[Lucas County Tax Distribution and Levy Estimator]]
*General Tax Distribution*
table{border:1px solid black; width: 300px;}.
|\2=. *Lucas County*|
| *Levies*| *Percentage*|
| General Fund| 3.91%|
| Metroparks - Operating| 1.72%|
| Community Mental Health| 2.11%|
| Board of Mental Retardation| 6.03%|
| Children's Services| 3.68%|
| Port Authority| 0.42%|
| Toledo/Lucas County Library| 2.64%|
| Zoo - Improvement| 1.77%|
| Zoo - Operating| 1.50%|
| 911 Telephone| 1.24%|
| Senior Services| 0.79%|
| Metroparks Land| 0.46%|
| *Subtotal*| *26.27%*|
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h2. About the Metroparks
!>http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/images/m2logo.gif!
The Metroparks of Lucas County consist of the "following":http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/guide/ parks:
* Bend View
* Blue Creek Conservation Area
* Fallen Timbers Battlefield
* Farnsworth
* Oak Openings Preserve
* Pearson
* Providence Metropark & The Canal Experience
* Secor
* Side Cut
* *Swan Creek Preserve*
* Wildwood Preserve
Swan Creek Preserve Metropark is the only one located in Toledo.
br. "Metroparks Timeline":http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/history/index.asp - The First 80 Years
"Metroparks History: Natural Treasures Handed Down Like Family Heirlooms":http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/archives/display.asp?id=30
br. "About":http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/about/ the Metroparks:
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MISSION
To enhance quality of life and inspire preservation efforts in this and future generations by providing a regional system of premier natural, historical and cultural parklands maintained and operated to the highest professional standards.
VISION
To Preserve and Protect the Natural Heritage of Northwest Ohio
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From the Metroparks "FAQ":http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/faq/ :
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What is a Metropark District?
The Metropolitan Park District of the Toledo Area is a political subdivision of the state of Ohio. The Ohio Revised Code, Section 1545, permits the formation of park districts "which include all or part of a territory within a county." Metroparks of the Toledo Area serves Lucas County.
The Park District is not part of any city or county government. It has its own governing body, a three-member Board of Park Commissioners whose members are appointed by the Lucas County Probate Court Judge.
The Board has the authority to acquire lands inside or outside the Park District for the purpose of conservation.
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