Illegal taxes by the City of Toledo government

• refuse fee
• traffic enforcement camera fines

"It's taxation without representation."

Nothing new for this town.

In the spring of 2007, Toledo city council 'endorsed' an illegal tax on Toledoans. It was a 7-5 vote. Five democrats voted against the illegal tax. All four republicans on council voted for the illegal tax. Allegedly, the republicans made some kind of deal with then-mayor Czarty.

In my previous paragraph, I placed the word "endorsed" in quotes because technically, I may be misleading the truth a smidgen.

Here's the rub. Council did not vote specifically on this illegal tax. That is, the illegal tax was not its own, separate resolution.

With the 7-5 vote, council approved the 2007 budget, which contained this illegal tax. Voting for the budget meant supporting the illegal tax, in my opinion. A sleazy but crafty move by city goobermint.

The five council members who voted against the illegal tax may not have been caring for us little peons. They were A-team democrats while Carty was a B-team democrat. I'm unsure if the five A-teamers voted against the illegal tax or voted against Carty.

Good times.

The city's code-name for this illegal tax was "refuse fee." This tax was placed on our water bill, and the money went to the general fund.

This illegal tax was suppose to last only for one year, but it didn't. What a shock. I think republican clowncilman and alleged financial guru, George Sarantou, said the city became too dependent upon the revenue. What a shock.

Mar 31, 2007 Blade story

The trash fee, which is expected to raise $2.9 million in 2007, expires on April 30, 2008.

Hah! Good one.

Eventually, this illegal tax was suppose to drop to zero for those who recycled, but it didn't.

The illegal tax cost less for those who recycled. This tax difference was to encourage more recycling in order to extend the life of our landfill.

The result: More people did recycle. And because too many people recycled, the city could not honor its promise to eliminate the tax.

My fellow rubes, obviously this illegal tax was never about recycling and helping the landfill. It was always about taking more money. Illegally.

In February 2008, Karen Shanahan sued Toledo over this illegal tax.

In effect, the very character and nature of the refuse fee amounts to a property tax. Furthermore, the refuse fee was created by administrative fiat. And, at no point was it approved by City Council or the voters of the City of Toledo.

Viewed broadly, the purpose of this case is to establish that the City of Toledo has taxed the property owners outside of its own limitations. Moreover, the City of Toledo has taxed the property owners outside of the limitations set forth in Ohio's Constitution and the statutes of the State of Ohio.

A citizen sued the city over an illegal tax. How do you think that turned out?

And now the city plans to sue citizens (the chronic offenders) who have unpaid traffic enforcement camera fines.

It's good to be the king.

City government uses altruistic reasons as schemes to scam us. Everyone knows that the traffic enforcement cameras are about taking money. It's not about safety.

Maybe the city should place the traffic enforcement fines on water bills.

If Toledo government truly cared about safety, then they would ensure that our roads were in good condition.

Many of our roadways are in such ramshackle condition, that drivers are swerving and braking hard to avoid craters. And these maneuvers sometimes occur in traffic. I've had to swerve from drivers who swerved to avoid our road craters.

On a sidenote, if the city is concerned about downtown Toledo's image, then at the very least, the city should repair, not patch, but truly repair a couple of the main entryways into downtown Toledo. If it's a state responsibility, then the city should push hard for help.

It's stunningly embarrassing how bad these roads are. When driving north on I-75 and exiting at the Downtown off-ramp, you are in for a bone-jarring, vehicle-rattling ride up to the first traffic light.

When driving south on I-75 and exiting at the Washington St. off-ramp to enter downtown Toledo, you get the same glorious result up to Washington St. traffic light.

I-75 is sort of a major road. Visitors to downtown Toledo should not be greeted immediately by these two short, deplorable entrances.

But hey, some chicken is probably making too much noise, therefore we need to address that issue immediately.