Toledo finance committee reviews July revenue, hears tax update; auditor—s internal audit plan adopted

At a regular monthly meeting, the Toledo Finance Committee reviewed July revenue and expenditure reports and received an income-tax update from Tax Commissioner John Zavisha. The committee also adopted the city auditor—s internal audit plan covering July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.

The update from Tax Commissioner John Zavisha showed withholding roughly in line with last year. "We're about even with last year, we were down slightly less than 63,000," Zavisha told the committee, and he said withholding was up $332,000 (2.3%) for the month of July. He said business net-profit payments were up about $1.9 million for the month, but that 82% of that growth reflected a single company whose payment was booked earlier this year than last. Zavisha flagged a possible timing issue in the individual net-profits category that he said he would monitor.

Zavisha reported refunds through July 31 of just shy of $2.9 million, running about 8% higher than last year and projecting to roughly $5.8 million for the year; the administration set aside $6.0 million for refunds. He also noted the IRS-unit—s recent operational changes and preparations to refer some cases to the Ohio Attorney General in late third quarter or early fourth quarter. He described the practical effect of a referral: federal or state refunds due a taxpayer could be intercepted by the Ohio Attorney General and paid to the city; the attorney general charges a 10% collection fee, Zavisha said.

The committee heard an overview of general-fund performance: the report showed the city at about 52% of the year-to-date revenue estimate, with property taxes and a second-quarter casino payment on schedule. Charges for services were at about 64% of budget, driven in part by higher-than-expected ALS and EMS billing collections. The report also attributed an increase in the "other revenue" line to PFAS settlement proceeds earlier in the year.

On expenditures, staff said labor costs are running ahead of budget because of recently approved bargaining agreements with retroactive pay for police and fire; the packet included a forthcoming budget amendment to address those costs. Staff reported overtime overall is under budget and that pension, employment-tax and health-care increases (notably prescription-drug costs) remain areas to monitor.

City Auditor John Ryvalski asked the committee to adopt his office—s internal audit plan for 07/01/2025—6/30/2026. Ryvalski said the plan includes three internal audits: the city grass-cutting program (to assess vendor monitoring and complaint handling), asset management (physical assets and expendable inventory controls), and cash-and-receipt handling (controls over petty cash and small-scale cash operations). A committee member moved adoption and, by unanimous consent with no recorded roll call, the committee adopted the plan.

The committee packet also included all-funds and CIP summaries, updates on HUD 108 loan activity tied to two projects (Swainfield and the Delta Hotel), and a reminder that the state audit had not yet been released but was expected in the coming weeks. With no further business and no members of the public requesting to speak, the meeting adjourned.

Ending: The finance staff said it will continue monitoring withholding and refund timing, follow up on the IRS-unit—s implementation with the Ohio Attorney General, and bring the auditor—s performance-measure audit to the next Finance Committee meeting.