Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz released the following statement today on the state budget:

“The budget signed by the Governor today will have a devastating negative impact on our city. Toledoans will now be forced to pay higher gas taxes, and yet incredibly enough, they will see their budget cut by $6.5 million. Meanwhile, our citizens will be less safe because the State of Ohio has taken away an important tool that our police and law enforcement professionals believe they need to protect us.

Toledo gets higher taxes, less money, and streets that are more dangerous. This is a slap in the face to our police department, our police chief George Kral, and to every citizen who believes Toledoans should have the right to govern themselves.

Short-sighted policies like this have made educated young people Ohio’s number one export. We continue to lose population compared to the rest of the country, but once again, they have doubled down on their attacks on cities like Toledo and have failed to adequately invest in Ohio’s infrastructure.

There can no longer be any question what the politicians in Columbus think of us — they hate Toledo, and they have now passed a budget that proves it.