Tt post oct 13, 2016

What did Bell, Collins, and Hicks-Hudson do over the past five years to ensure Toledo would no longer need this temporary tax?

What did any of the mayoral and city council regimes over the past 20 years do to end the need for this tax?

Nothing, of course, because that would mean doing hard government work. The politicians took the effortless road. They only need to trot out the fear-mongering rhetoric, and voters will support the tax.

The best stupidity for this tax was expressed back in February 2008 by councilwoman Wilma Brown. Classic.

Councilman Wilma Brown was much more direct about the issue.

"It's going to burn our city," she said during a finance committee meeting.

Mrs. Brown said she would "flame-proof" her house and not drive her car because of the reduced police and fire forces should the income tax fail.

Excerpts from my Mar 8, 2016 comment
:

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Toledo, Ohio:

#ccc;padding:5px;" cellspacing="0">

	1970	2015	change	% change
population	383,818	281,031	-102,787	-26.78 %
police officers	730	631	-99	-13.56 %
residents per officer	526	445	+81	+15.40 %
firefighters	558	490	-68	-12.19 %
residents per firefighter	687	574	+113	+16.45 %
square miles	84	84	0	0.00 %

What's the logical reason for the rate in decline for police and fire not aligning with the rate of decline for Toledo's population?

Or what's the reason for not using the 1970 ratios of residents to police officers and firefighters in 2016?

If we used the 1970 ratios, then Toledo would see the number of police officers drop from 631 to 534, and the number of firefighters drop from 490 to 409.

How much money would Toledo save if it reduced the number of police officers by 97 and the number of firefighters by 81?

We have more technology today than in 1970 that is suppose to help police officers. With Toledo's population decline, we have more vacant lots.

If legitimate reasons exist to maintain or increase current police and fire numbers, then what are those reasons?

On the police side, the reason can't be crime. It cannot be crime. City officials cannot say that we have more crime per residents today compared to 1970 because that would mean as Toledo's population decreases, crime and taxes increase.

Approximately 10,000 EMS runs occurred in 1970 with a population of 383,818. That was approximately one EMS run for every 38 residents.

Then in 2005, Toledo had nearly 40,000 EMS runs with a population of 301,285. That's approximately one EMS run for every 7.5 residents.

A quadrupling in EMS runs [by 2005] even though our population declined by over 20 percent.

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How many EMS runs occurred in 2015? I'm guessing that it was more than what occurred in 2005, especially with the opioid issues this decade. Is this the reason for the firefighter staffing levels exceeding what's really needed for our population numbers?

Excerpts from MsArcher's March 2016 comment

... according to the union contract, the fire department has a minimum manning requirement which means it doesn't matter how many firefighters they employ, they have to have so many on the job at any time.

So even if they have fewer firefighters, they have to pay to have 107 on staff every day, even if it means overtime. And in 9 months, that 107 will go up to 110, even though the population is going down. This protects their jobs, increases their union due revenue and 'protects' the citizens.

[regarding EMS runs]

What are people doing? Call 9-1-1 for any and everything that happens, which generates a call, which takes time. I'm talking about mentally ill people who can only have a bowel movement at the hospital (I'm not joking); people who are so obese that they fall and can't get up; people without transportation and this is how they get to a doctors appointment at the hospital complex. Now certainly not all of the calls are like this, but so many are, if you really go in and break down what the calls are.

And why do fire departments respond? Because it makes their call volumes go up, so that they can justify an increase in minimum manning. Let me give you some very typical stats from a suburban department that are probably 10 years old:

80% of calls are EMS, 20% are fire.
Of the 20% fire, 60% are false alarms (either bad smoke detector, a 'smell' that never turns to a fire, etc)
Of the 40% of the 20% that are actually fire related, most are small things like a kitchen grease fire that stays under control. Only a small number, like 3-4% are actual fire-fires.

I can't remember stats from the 80% that are EMS, but so many of them are literally routine, repeat calls.

So it is not an aging population, it is the mis-utilization of a government service.

And if you look at more recent EMS runs, the numbers may be even higher because TFD started their own transport unit - when they send out first responders AND the transport unit, does that count as one run or two?

Didn't PH2 say that she would try again in 2017 to convince voters to increase the temp tax to 1.0 percent? I wouldn't be surprised to see it on the May 2017 ballot. Voters thrashed the idea this past March, but that doesn't mean anything to city "leaders."

Back in the spring, city government increased our illegal refuse fee tax. And I think that it's a safe bet that this illegal tax will get increased again in 2017.

With all of the great things that have happened in downtown Toledo over the past 15 years, plus the casino and the traffic enforcement cameras, where's the money? Why the need for these taxes?

Here's this thread condensed to a single tweet for the rubes on social media:

Vote NO on Toledo's 3/4-percent temporary income tax scam.

#toledo #politics