Months of campaigning for various issues ended Tuesday night with the passage and defeat of several hot topics in the central Ohio area. COTA split the two issues it had before voters. Issue 20, which asked voters to continue a 0.25 percent sales tax to fund the public transit system, passed by almost 15 percent. A sister issue, Issue 21, which would have increased the tax by 0.5 percent to fund major additions to COTA service, failed by 10 percent. The approval of Issue 20 will allow current COTA services to continue, but “Vision 20/20,” COTA’s plan to add additional bus lines and a light rail system will probably not happen. The “Vision 20/20” plan promised more than $14 million in annual travel-related expenses, including reduced traffic congestion, fewer traffic accidents, improved air quality, reduced fuel consumption and increased savings in roadway and parking maintenance. The passage of these issues would have paved the way for federal funds to help finance the projects.COTA viewed the passing of these issues as vital to the future of COTA and Central Ohio, said Ron Barns, general manager and CEO of COTA.Issue 33, the Polaris TIF issue, failed by a margin of 11 percent.This issue dealt with a tax-increment financing district, or TIF, that was granted in 1996 by the Columbus City Council for the Polaris area. The TIF was designed to extend water, roadways, bridges and sewer systems into the Polaris area. The TIF allocated non-school property taxes of up to $20 million to fund the development of those utilities at Polaris.Support for the passage of Issue 33 was led by Northland Mall owner Dick Jacobs, who raised more than $800,000 to fund the Save Northland Mall campaign. If the TIF was not repealed, Jacobs said that three anchor stores would leave Northland for a proposed mall at Polaris. Jacobs has said that without its anchor stores, Northland Mall would have to close, depriving the neighborhood of its central attraction.Those who opposed Issue 33 said that Columbus tax dollars set aside for community improvements would have gone to fund Polaris’ utility construction had the TIF been repealed. Now, the costs for those developments will come directly from the developers.Controversy around Issue 33 was enhanced by the television advertisements placed by the Save Northland Mall campaign. The Ohio Elections Commission found probable cause that the ads were intentionally misleading and referred the matter to the county prosecutor.