The public has a chance to weigh in on the city of Columbus' plan for capital improvement spending in a series of meetings starting this week.
The city anticipates spending more than $1 billion on a variety of improvements, including road resurfacing, utility infrastructure, parks and recreation facilities.
Four hearings will address capital improvement projects in certain areas of the city.
City Councilwoman Elizabeth Brown said strong income tax revenue so far this year is supporting this year’s “healthy” capital improvement budget.
“We are actually very fortunate to have a healthy capital capacity this year. This year's capital budget as introduced is $1.24 billion. And that's financed through income tax revenue, which is coming in strong this year, and also financed through the ratepayers for the utility expenditures in our capital budget for water and electric,” she said.
The budget is “always focused on physical assets that really improve neighborhood quality of life,” said Brown.
“These can be things that we actually touch and feel like roads and sidewalks and curbs, or they can be things we do not see like sewer and water infrastructure. They can also be things that contribute to quality of life and community, like affordable housing and our recreation centers, park land, all of those things are physical assets in our city and all of those are a part of this capital budget this year,” said Brown.
Council will vote on the capital budget following the hearings. It is usually decided on earlier in the year, but COVID-19 pushed planning forward several months beginning with the pandemic.
“This is our third year of doing it later in the year because of COVID. Our capital budget is highly reliant on our income tax revenue each year,” Brown said. “So when COVID hit, we didn't know what would happen to our income tax receipts. So we delayed the capital budget until the fall. And then the next year, we still didn't know what would happen because of uncertainty.”
Mayor Andrew Ginther’s proposal includes $125 million for the Public Service Department for things like new garbage trucks, road resurfacing and road improvements, along with $66 million to fund development and improvements to city parks and recreation facilities, $20 million to support residential housing, and $12 million for a substance use disorder treatment facility and Columbus Public Health.
The capital budget is separate from a city proposal to raise $1.5 billion in a bond package initiative that would include $200 million for affordable housing. That issue is expected to be put to voters in November.
West Columbus improvement projects will be addressed at 4 PM on July 4 at Open Door Columbus, 540 Industrial Mile Road.
North Columbus improvement projects will be discussed at 5:30 PM on July 7 at Woodward Park Community Center, 5147 Karl Road.
South Columbus improvement projects will be discussed at 4 PM on July 12 at Family Missionary Baptist Church, 996 Oakwood Ave.
East Columbus improvement projects will be addressed at 5:30 PM on July 14 at Far East Community Center, 1826 Lattimer Drive.
The meetings will be streamed online in several places – including the city’s YouTube and Facebook pages, where comments can be submitted.
People can visit the city's Capital and Debt Management web page to determine where their neighborhood lands in the city’s capital planning areas or find more information about the proposed budget.
