Toledo, Ohio
| Toledo, Ohio | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Toledo Wade Kapszukiewicz | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2025 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2029 |
| Last city council election: | 2025 |
| Next city council election: | 2027 |
| City council seats: | 12 |
| City website | |
| Composition data | |
| Population: | 270,871 |
| Race: | White 58.3% African American 28.8% Asian 1.2% Native American 0.4% Pacific Islander 0% Multiple 8.3% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic or Latino origin 8.9% |
| Median household income: | $47,532 |
| High school graduation rate: | 88% |
| College graduation rate: | 21% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau,2020 census and2023 ACS data. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. | |
| Related Toledo offices | |
| Ohio Congressional Delegation Ohio State Legislature Ohio state executive offices | |
Toledo is a city inLucas County, Ohio. The city's population was 270,871 as of 2020, according to theUnited States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also:Mayor-council government
The city of Toledo utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body while the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.[1]
Mayor
The mayor serves as the city's chief executive and is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[2][3]
The current Mayor of Toledo isWade Kapszukiewicz (nonpartisan). Kapszukiewicz assumed office in 2018.
City council
The Toledo City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[4]
The Toledo City Council is made up of 12 members. Six are elected by district, while the other six are elected at large.[5]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords thatVoterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Mayoral partisanship
Toledo has a Democratic mayor. As of February 2026, 67 mayors in thelargest 100 cities by population are affiliated with theDemocratic Party, 22 are affiliated with theRepublican Party, one is affiliated with theLibertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown.Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2025
The city ofToledo, Ohio, held general elections for mayor, city council, municipal court clerk, and municipal court judges on November 4, 2025. A primary was scheduled for May 6, 2025. The filing deadline for the primary was March 7, 2025, and the filing deadline for the general election was August 6, 2025.
2024
The city ofToledo, Ohio, held special elections for two at-large city council seats on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was September 6, 2024.
2023
The city ofToledo, Ohio, held general elections for city council and municipal judge on November 7, 2023. A primary was scheduled for May 2, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was March 3, 2023. The city also held a special election for an at-large city council seat on November 7, 2023. The filing deadline for that election was September 8, 2023.
2021
The city ofToledo, Ohio, held general elections for mayor, city council, and municipal judge on November 2, 2021. A primary was scheduled for September 14, 2021. A special election for the District 6 seats on the city council was also held on September 14, 2021. The filing deadline for the regular election was July 16, 2021, and the filing deadline for the special election was August 5, 2021.[6]
2020
The city ofToledo, Ohio, held a special general election for one at-large city council seat on November 3, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was September 4, 2020.
2019
The city held general elections for seven city council seats on November 5, 2019. A primary was scheduled for September 10, 2019. The filing deadline for this election was July 12, 2019.
2018
The city ofToledo, Ohio, held a special election for the District 6 city council seat on May 8, 2018. The filing deadline for this election was March 29, 2018.[7]
2017
The city ofToledo, Ohio, held elections for mayor and six seats on the city council on November 7, 2017. A primary election took place on September 12, 2017. The filing deadline for this election was July 14, 2017.[8][9]
2015
The city ofToledo, Ohio, held elections formayor and city council onNovember 3, 2015. A primary election for the city council races took place on September 15, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 21, 2015, for the city council race. Six city council seats were up for election.[10]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Toledo | |
|---|---|
| Toledo | |
| Population | 270,871 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 80 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 58.7% |
| Black/African American | 28.7% |
| Asian | 1.4% |
| Native American | 0.2% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.1% |
| Other (single race) | 3.1% |
| Multiple | 7.9% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 8.9% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 88% |
| College graduation rate | 21% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $47,532 |
| Persons below poverty level | 24.5% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau,"Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau,"American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the censushere. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates by fiscal calendar years running from January 1 to December 31. The mayor is responsible for preparing a proposed annual balanced budget no later than November 15. The city council revises the mayor's proposal and adopts the budget after holding public hearings.[11]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by theLincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[12]
| “ | FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[13] | ” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[14] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[12]
Toledo, Ohio, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
One Government Center, Suite 2200
Toledo, OH 43604
Phone: 419-245-1001
Clickhere for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also:Lucas County, Ohio ballot measures
The city of Toledo is inLucas County. A list of ballot measures in Lucas County is availablehere.
Noteworthy events
2020: City council members arrested on federal bribery and extortion charges
On June 30, 2020, federal agents arrested four Toledo City Council members on charges of bribery and extortion. TheFederal Bureau of Investigation accused the four officials—Yvonne Harper,Gary Johnson,Tyrone Riley, andLarry Sykes—of "soliciting and/or accepting cash, checks, money orders, or other things of value from local business owners in exchange for their votes on City Council."[15] They were later released on a $50,000-per-person bond.[16]
The arrests resulted from a two-year investigation into the city council that the FBI first opened in 2018.[17] Attorney Keith Mitchell was also implicated in the charges against Harper, who was given an additional charge of "interstate communications with intent to extort," according to theToledo Blade.[18]
U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said of the charges: "As alleged in the Complaint, four Toledo City Council members and a local attorney have been engaged in a pay-to-play scheme involving bribes for Council votes. Maintaining the public’s trust in its elected officials is one of the Department of Justice’s core responsibilities."[16]
On July 21, a grand jury indicted the four city council members and Mitchell on additional charges of extortion and conspiracy.[19] On July 22, Yvonne Harper, Tyrone Riley, and Larry Sykes voluntarily suspended their positions pending the investigation. The agreement came afterAttorney General of OhioDave Yost (R) filed a request for suspension proceedings, saying, "Until allegations of public corruption are resolved in court, a suspension is the proper remedy to balance the accused’s right of a presumption of innocence with the public’s interest to have a functioning city council." On July 27, Johnson voluntarily suspended his position pending the investigation.[20]
As of July 1, 2021, a trial date had not been set for the four former city council members.[21]
On September 18, 2020, Lucas County Probate JudgeJack Puffenberger appointedJohn Hobbs III,Vanice Williams,Tiffany Preston Whitman, andCerssandra McPherson to fill the vacancies on the Toledo City Council. They were selected to hold their positions in a temporary capacity while legal proceedings continued for the four previous council members.[22] They assumed office on September 22, 2020.[23] Though the position is nonpartisan, theToledo Blade identified all four as Democrats.[24][22]
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Toledo, following the death of George Floyd. Events inToledo, Ohio, began on Saturday, May 30, 2020.[25] The same day, MayorWade Kapszukiewicz (D) issued a curfew.[26] The national guard was not deployed.
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, theMovement Advancement Project described Toledo, Ohio, as a city or county that prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity via ordinances that apply to public andprivate employers. At that time, a total of71 ofAmerica's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[27]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
2014: Toxin found in Lake Erie
On August 2, 2014, the city of Toledo issued a notice to its citizens, warning them not to drink or boil local tap water. The notice claimed that a toxin called microcystin had been found in Lake Erie—Toledo's primary source of potable water—that exceeded the city's recommended one microgram per liter limit. Consuming microcystin can create serious medical problems including abnormal liver function, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, numbness, or dizziness. The crisis ledGov. John Kasich (R) to declare a state of emergency and created a shortage of available drinking water in the Toledo area until the morning of August 4, 2014, when MayorD. Michael Collins (I) announced that the drinking ban had been lifted.[28][29]
The cause of the abnormally high presence of microcystin in Lake Erie was identified as algae blooms, dramatic and sudden increases in the amount of algae within a body of water.[30] Algae blooms are a regular feature of the Lake Erie ecosystem and can reach dangerous levels and produce heavy amounts of microcystin. In the 1960s and 1970s, algae blooms reached historic levels.[31] To combat this problem, the governments of the United States and Canada established the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (henceforth GLWQA) in 1972, an $8 billion project which put in place policies to remove the blooms from the Great Lakes and to keep them contained.[32]
Despite the initial success of GLWQA, experts noted a steady increase in algae blooms in Lake Erie after 2002, with the events of early August 2014 marking a substantial spike. According to studies conducted by theEnvironmental Protection Agency, agricultural runoff—most notably phosphorus, a chemical commonly found in fertilizers—drove this trend.[33] Various solutions were put forward to curb the effects of agricultural runoff on Lake Erie, ranging from restrictions on how local farmers use fertilizers to more sophisticated filtration systems.[34][35][36] At the time of the drinking ban's removal, no consensus on the issue had emerged.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑American Legal Publishing, "Toledo City Charter Ch. IV and Ch. V," accessed September 1, 2021
- ↑American Legal Publishing, "Toledo City Charter Ch. V sec. 61," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑City of Toledo, "Office of the Mayor," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑American Legal Publishing, "Toledo City Charter Ch. IV," accessed September 1, 2021
- ↑City of Toledo, "City Council," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑Toledo Blade, "Six candidates interested in filling vacant city council seat," April 7, 2021
- ↑Lucas County Board of Elections, "Historic Election Results," accessed September 16, 2021
- ↑Nick Katers, "Email exchange with LaVera Scott," July 14, 2017
- ↑Lucas County Board of Elections, "Historic Election Results," accessed September 16, 2021
- ↑Lucas County Board of Elections, "Historic Election Results," accessed September 16, 2021
- ↑American Legal Publishing, "Toledo City Charter Chapter IV Section 45," accessed August 28, 2023
- ↑12.012.1Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 28, 2023
- ↑Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 28, 2023
- ↑WTOL11, "What are the accusations against Toledo City Council members? See the full list," July 1, 2020
- ↑16.016.1Fox News, "One-third of Toledo's City Council arrested on bribery, extortion charges," July 2, 2020
- ↑13abc, "Four Toledo City Council members accused of accepting bribes in 2 year FBI investigation," June 30, 2020
- ↑Toledo Blade, "Federal agents charge four Toledo city council members in bribery probe," July 1, 2020
- ↑WTOL11, "Grand jury indicts council members, local attorney in alleged pay-to-play scheme," July 20, 2020
- ↑NBC24, "Gary Johnson agrees to suspension from Toledo City Council," July 27, 2020
- ↑13abc, "One year later still no trial or trial date for Toledo City Council members in bribery case," July 1, 2021
- ↑22.022.1WTOL11, "4 temporary replacements for Toledo City Council seats announced," September 18, 2020
- ↑WTOL11, "4 new Toledo City Council members fill seats amid bribery investigation," September 23, 2020
- ↑Toledo Blade, "Four new members attend first Toledo City Council meeting," September 22, 2020
- ↑The Toledo Blade, "Peaceful protest turns violent Saturday," May 30, 2020
- ↑ABC 13, "Protests in downtown Toledo turn violent Saturday night," May 30, 2020
- ↑Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
- ↑NBC News, “Toledo Issues Do-Not-Drink Advisory for Tap Water,” August 2, 2014
- ↑The Blade, “Mayor Collins: our water is safe,” August 4, 2014
- ↑Science Daily, “Algal Bloom,” accessed on August 5, 2014
- ↑Vox, “Why are toxic algae blooms making a comeback in Lake Erie?”, August 4, 2014
- ↑U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Lake Erie,” accessed on August 26, 2021
- ↑Environmental Protection Agency of Ohio, “Task Force: Final Report,” April 2010
- ↑Lake Erie Ecosystem Priority, “A Balanced Diet for Lake Erie: Reducing Phosphorus Loadings and Harmful Algal Blooms,” February 2014
- ↑Gagala, Ilona and Joana Mankiewicz-Boczek, “The Natural Degradation of Microcystins in Fresh Water – the Future of Modern Treatment Systems and Water Quality Improvement,” inThe Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, Vol. 21, No. 5 (2012)
- ↑Vox.com, “A toxic algae bloom has left 400,000 people in Ohio without drinking water,” August 3, 2014
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