In a continued effort to maintain transparency and promote the fiscally responsible and effective plan being implemented with the additional levy funds, I want to present the taxpaying citizens of the City of Tiffin with the 2025 Road & Bridge Levy Annual Update.
In 2024, the total revenue generated from the additional 0.25% income tax was $1,607,053.99. This established a new all-time high for annual revenue, and was an increase from the $1,528,896.61 collected in 2023. The annual expenses from this restricted fund were $1,884,287.95. These expenses breakdown as follows: $1,334,023.08 (Street Resurfacing Projects), $26,884.91 (South Sandusky Street Culvert), $256,597.16 (Ella Street River Bridge), $3,152.71 (East Perry Street Reconstruction), $47,407.00 (US 224 Urban Paving Project), $212,534.69 (North Sandusky Street Reconstruction Project) and $3,688.40 (Willow Court Culvert Project). The carryover within the fund entering into fiscal year 2025 is $566,027.45.
In 2024, the City of Tiffin was successfully able to utilize the Road & Bridge Levy funds to resurface a portion of 24 streets within our city. In 2025, the City of Tiffin is proposing to continue our increased investment toward our city streets. The 2025 Street Paving Program will resurface a portion of 27 streets. This project was publicly bid in November and was recently awarded to M&B Asphalt Company in the amount of $1,005,090.78.
In 2025, the city will, also, begin implementing additional pavement maintenance and will contract with Pavement Technology Inc. to apply Recalamite asphalt rejuvenator to nine different streets that were recently paved in 2023. Reclamite asphalt rejuvenator restores reactive maltene components that asphalt pavements lose due to hot-plant operations and subsequent field aging. It penetrates the pavement surface deeply to protect against air and water intrusion. At a fraction of the cost of paving, this program will be utilized to prolong the lifespan of Tiffin’s roadways. The current contract amount for this project is $57,237.52.
Additionally, in 2025, the City of Tiffin will resurface part of the city’s portion of U.S. 224 between West Market Street and Fair Lane. The current estimated construction cost for this project is $516,000 of which the City of Tiffin has received a federally funded Urban Paving Program grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to assist with the project in the amount of 80% of the project cost up to a maximum amount of $355,000.
Furthermore, in 2025, the City of Tiffin is planning to publicly bid the upcoming North Sandusky Street Project. This project, planned to begin construction in 2026, proposes a full depth reconstruction of the pavement of North Sandusky Street between Hall Street and Tomb Street, proposes to resurface the top 3 inches of the pavement of North Sandusky Street between Tomb Street and the city’s corporation limits and proposes signal upgrades and access management improvements within the Six’s Corners intersection. The current estimated construction cost for this project is $2,603,357.55. The City of Tiffin has received three federally funded grants from the ODOT to assist with this project. The city received a Small Cities Program grant in the amount of 95% of the project cost up to a maximum amount of $1,658,961 for the full depth reconstruction between Hall Street and Tomb Street, an Urban Paving Program grant in the amount of 80% of the project cost up to a maximum amount of $500,000 for the resurfacing portion of the project between Tomb Street and the city’s corporation limits and an Abbreviated Safety Program grant in the amount of 90% of the construction cost up to a maximum amount of $387,725 for the Six’s Corners improvements.
In 2025, the city will, also, utilize Road & Bridge Levy funding for the city’s annual payment for our previously obtained $500,000 0%, five year term loan from OPWC for the 2023 Street Paving Project. The purpose of this loan was to ensure the city was continuing to properly invest in street resurfacing simultaneously with the significant investment needed for the construction of the Ella Street River Bridge. The five year term loan ensured the principal will be completely paid off prior to the current levy expiring.
Additionally in 2024, the City of Tiffin utilized Road & Bridge Levy funding to construct a roadside culvert on North Willow Court and began the design of the South Sandusky Street Culvert Replacement Project. The South Sandusky Street Culvert Replacement Project is scoped to replace the city’s only currently remaining culvert under a roadway requiring replacement. This culvert is located near the intersection of South Sandusky Street and Cottage Avenue and the replacement of this culvert is scheduled to take place in 2026.
As the City Engineer for the City of Tiffin, I feel since the passage of the levy in 2018 we have begun taking the appropriate measures toward properly investing in the future of our 89 miles of roadway, 13 city maintained bridges and 25 roadway culverts. Since the levy’s passage nearly seven years ago, we have been proactive in leveraging as much Road and Bridge Levy funds as possible with state and federal grant dollars and have successfully secured approximately $7.7 million in additional road and bridge grant funding to date. This $7.7 million of additional funding has allowed the City of Tiffin to practically double our investment in our community as we have been able to obtain nearly $2 worth of infrastructure improvements for every additional local tax dollar collected. Thus, these numbers further support the importance of this levy and the fact that we have stuck to our word and have created the foundation of a fiscally responsible and effective plan. Again, I cannot thank the residents of the City of Tiffin enough for their trust and support in the plan that we have created and I look forward to continue to implement the plan to improve the City of Tiffin’s infrastructure for many years to come!
Matt Watson, PE, PS, CPESC, CESSWI, CFM
City Engineer
City of Tiffin
