With 2025 coming to a close, members of the Toledo City Council approved the South Lewis County community’s budget for 2026 during its first regular meeting of December following the budget’s final public hearing.
As for the budget, 2026 revenues were estimated at $1,427,820, with expenditures expected to total $1,282,669.94, according to budget documents on the city’s website at https://tinyurl.com/4jzp8t49.
During the Dec. 1 meeting, Toledo City Clerk-Treasurer Rachel Campbell announced there are upcoming vacancies on the city council beginning in the new year on top of vacancies on the Toledo Planning Commission and Toledo Park Board.
Speaking of the planning commission, Campbell also warned residents to be on the lookout for scam emails being sent from someone pretending to serve on the planning commission who was asking for absurd amounts of money for event permits.
“Someone had sent an email pretending to be the City of Toledo Planning Commission to Mike Morgan, who submitted the Cheese Ball Drop (permit application),” Campbell said. “... It was requesting him to pay like $38,000 for a special events permit, which city hall definitely does not charge.”
The Cheese Ball Drop is Toledo’s annual New Year’s celebration, with festivities scheduled to start at 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 and ending with the ball drop at midnight at the Toledo Waterfront Boat Launch, according to the city’s website.
She asked residents who may have received similar emails they suspect to be scams to city hall.
For those interested in serving on one of the two positions on the Toledo City Council, which will be open beginning on Jan. 1, requirements to serve on the council include being 18 years or older, being a registered voter and having lived within Toledo city limits for at least one year.
The requirements to serve on the park board are the same as the council; however, those interested in serving on the planning commission don’t have to reside directly within city limits, but must have lived at their current residence in the immediate Toledo area for at least a year.
More information including the application and how to submit it for the city council vacancies can be found on the city’s website at https://toledowa.us/notice-2-city-council-vacancy/.
Planning commission and park board information and applications can be found at https://toledowa.us/notice-planning-commission-vacancy-3/ and at https://toledowa.us/notice-park-board-vacancy/.
