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鈥檚 鈥渉ealthy鈥� capital improvement budget.
鈥淲e 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,鈥� she said.
The budget is 鈥渁lways focused on physical assets that really improve neighborhood quality of life,鈥� said Brown.
鈥淭hese 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,鈥� 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.
鈥淭his 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,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淪o 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.鈥�
Mayor Andrew Ginther鈥檚 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 鈥� including the city鈥檚 and pages, where comments can be submitted.
People can visit the city's to determine where their neighborhood lands in the city鈥檚 capital planning areas or find more information about the proposed budget.
