City seeks approval of $1.03B in bonds

Columbus will ask voters to approve a $1.03 billion bond package that would include $50 million for an affordable-housing plan and $130 million for a new Franklin County Municipal Court complex.

Voters will see the bond package on the May 7 ballot. It would pay for capital improvements such as street improvements, new recreation centers and police and fire stations, without raising taxes. One-fourth of the city’s 2.5 percent income tax goes toward paying off debt.

The request for money for affordable housing is a first for a Columbus bond package. Officials haven’t decided how the money would be spent; it could be used for planning and to help pay for rehabilitated or new housing, among other things.

But it could also be used in connection with a new community land trust that the city would create with Franklin County. In such a trust, land for development would remain in city and county land banks’ control while the house built on it would be owned or rented by the occupant. The goal would be to keep housing affordable by controlling the land.

“Working to build on the land trust is one of the options,” Columbus Development Director Steve Schoeny said. “Partnering with more traditional housing providers is one of the options.”

City officials also are looking at working with the suburbs to preserve and create more affordable housing.

“Every neighborhood will see real and tangible improvements,” Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said at an event Monday at Fedderson Community Center on the North Side to discuss the bond package.

The package also includes $130 million to build a new Franklin County Municipal Court complex Downtown, Columbus Finance Director Joe Lombardi said.

“We’re in the process of securing a site,” said Lombardi, and construction is still three to five years out.

The current complex, on South High Street The bond package also would pay for a real-time crime center to analyze crime data to provide to police. “The data center would help us in our efforts to police differently,” Ginther said. He said Columbus City Councilman Mitchell J. Brown asked for $4 million for design work for the center. Ginther said a location hasn’t been chosen yet.

Downtown, is more than 40 years old, outdated and overcrowded, Lombardi said. Fully renovating that building would cost $90 million to $100 million.

The bond package also would pay for a real-time crime center to analyze crime data to provide to police. “The data center would help us in our efforts to police differently,” Ginther said. He said Columbus City Councilman Mitchell J. Brown asked for $4 million for design work for the center. Ginther said a location hasn’t been chosen yet.

In addition, the bond package includes $182 million for street improvements, $40 million for pedestrian safety and sidewalk improvements, $39 million for improvements to recreation centers and parks, and $30 million for police stations and fire stations.

City Auditor Megan Kilgore said having voters approve a bond package enables the city to borrow at lower rates.

Columbus voters passed a $950 million bond package in 2016 and have approved 90 of 96 bond issues since 1956.

City officials will hold four community meetings to discuss the bond package from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on these dates and locations:

• Wednesday: Linden Community Recreation Center, 1254 Briarwood Ave.

• Thursday: Glenwood Community Recreation Center, 1888 Fairmont Ave.

• Jan. 23: Driving Park Community Recreation Center, 1100 Rhoads Ave.

• Jan. 24: Marion Franklin Community Recreation Center, 2801 Lockbourne Road.