Featured image: Toledo skyline along the Maumee River, July 2022, by MrJacon000, via Wikimedia Commons.

Lucas County voters will decide Nov. 3 on two local levies that hit the pocketbook in very different amounts: a new 3-mill levy for the Toledo Lucas County Public Library (Issue 8) and a renewal of the 0.17-mill levy for Imagination Station (Issue 13).

Issue 8 is an additional 3-mill, five-year levy for library current expenses. The county auditor estimates it would collect about $34.26 million a year, costing $105 for each $100,000 of a property’s county-estimated value. Library director Jason Kucsma has said it would close a budget gap created by state funding cuts and restore hours the library was forced to cut.

Issue 13 renews the existing 0.17-mill levy for Imagination Station, Toledo’s nonprofit science center, for five years. The auditor estimates about $1.34 million a year, costing $3 for each $100,000 of market value. It is a renewal of an existing tax, not a new one, and would fund operation and maintenance of the science center and its STEM education programs.

Both need a majority yes vote to pass. Early voting is underway in Lucas County ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.

Sources: Toledo Free Press voter’s guide; Toledo City Paper ballot guide; Lucas County Board of Elections Issue 8 language; Issue 13 language.