The Sylvania City-Sylvania Township merger has been studied by the UT Urban Affairs Center and the Sylvania Area Community Improvement Corporation. The merger commission issue is a legally required first step towards a merger, not an initial study. The costs of a merger have already been studied. Voting yes will give the merger commission the power, under the Ohio Revised Code, to begin the merger process. The commissioners were not even chosen by your elected officials, and even their name, "One Sylvania," makes it clear that they are ready to merge the communities, not simply "study" the issue.

After the merger, the planned income tax on businesses in Sylvania Township will force many businesses to leave during already tough economic times. Two large local businesses have already indicated that they will move if we merge. Besides the loss of valuable property tax income from businesses, Sylvania Township will no longer benefit from state and county funding. Road and bridge maintenance would escalate, since the new, merged City of Sylvania would more than double the amount of roads it must maintain.

Also, The City of Sylvania will not receive all of the income tax revenue. In a deal with Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, the City of Sylvania agreed to give 40% of all new income tax revenue from annexed property to the City of Toledo. Although the new income tax on residents and businesses could raise some money to replace state and county funding, it will not be enough. Overall costs, based on a UT study and accounting for the cut given to the City of Toledo, will be over $10 million.

The merger commission can spend as much as the commissioners want to. They are required by law to hire specialists to analyze various data about tax revenue, Sylvania City and Township laws, and the setup of the merged government. They can even hire conflict resolution counselors to help convince the communities to merge. No matter what they spend or where you live, you will be paying the bill as a taxpayer. Spending more money on studies during an economic downturn will not save the taxpayers money. When One Sylvania says it is not asking you for more of your taxpayer dollars, it is misleading you. Taxpayer dollars will be used to fund the study, so it is going to cost you. One Sylvania is even funding their campaign with taxpayer dollars.

The current Sylvania Township government is a small and efficient system to cover a larger and more varied area of land, including developed and less-developed areas. The current Sylvania City government reflects a long-established city with a larger government and more services offered through the City. City residents move there because they enjoy the City lifestyle; Township residents move to the Township for a Township way of living. Township residents have more flexibility in selecting services, such as waste disposal, while City residents have a system run by the larger government of the City. The current system works since residents can choose either lifestyle. However, this efficient division of government duties would be replaced with a much larger government that would have to hire additional personnel and spend more money.

The merger would introduce income taxes of 1 1/2 % to Sylvania Township, which more than offsets any possible property tax decrease for Township residents. Overall, studies have found that property tax might decrease, but such decreases are only temporary. Sylvania City residents might have lower taxes at first, but there is no guarantee. One Sylvania is advocating for more spending, so the direction of taxes will only go one way: up. The higher cost of road maintenance and the loss of businesses could take away any advantage even to current City residents, since they would also be footing the bill for the roads and services that would be extended to current Township residents after the merger.

If you like services the way they are now, all of that would change with the merger. Current Sylvania Township residents will no longer receive valuable grants and services from the county and state that help maintain our roads and bridges. Current Sylvania City residents would experience less service on issues such as potholes, since the more extensive network of Township roads would have to be maintained. The current City of Sylvania services would just be spread too thinly to keep the same level of quality.

Sylvania Township's Board of Trustees all agree: they do not endorse the merger commission. They held a public forum to find out what voters thought about the issue and also received letters, phone calls, and e-mails which overwhelmingly opposed exploring a merger. Their resolution opposing the merger commission describes the negative response to the new tax structure. Since some residents and businesses would pay more taxes in order to cut taxes for others, it amounts to a redistribution of taxes, not a tax cut. Even those who might experience temporary tax cuts are skeptical that the merger would reduce local taxes overall. Township residents have agreed that the efficient and responsive township government is their best option.

The merger commission's composition, as voters will see it on their ballots, is currently incompatible with the requirements per Ohio Revised Code. The merger commission should be evenly split between City and Township residents, but it currently is 6-4, with more commissioners living in the City. This is because one commissioner lives in a neighborhood annexed into the City. As the Township Trustees describe in their resolution, there is no clear way to replace him under the Ohio Revised Code. It goes without saying that the current commission does not provide the Township residents with equal and fair representation.