Columbus residents provide input on capital budget

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus residents gathered Tuesday night to provide feedback on the city’s nearly $3 billion capital budget, the largest in the city’s history. It was the first of three scheduled town hall sessions. Tuesday night focused on housing, transportation and LinkUS initiatives.

Mayor Andrew Ginther unveiled the historic budget proposal last month, and the city is now seeking community input through three town hall meetings designed to break down the massive spending plan for city improvements.

The budget allocates $50 million to build new affordable homes and invest in permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness. According to Ginther, 200,000 housing units need to be built over the next decade to meet demand.

Columbus resident Robert Bennett expressed cautious support for the housing investment while raising concerns about the approach.

“What I liked is that there is money being spent on housing,” Bennett said. However, he added, “It felt more to me like our tax dollars are being used to subsidize building and to make building housing less expensive versus making housing more affordable.”

Mark Harper, vice chair of the Greater Southeast Area Commission, offered a more positive assessment of the city’s housing strategy.

“I think it’s a very unique way of addressing affordable housing,” Harper said. “Actually taking public dollars to ensure that our residents are being in essentially rent-stabilized housing on income levels, I think is a very unique and welcome approach.”

Bennett advocated for increased funding to support Columbus City Schools, expressing concerns about educational investment priorities within the budget.

Infrastructure improvements also drew attention, with the city allocating nearly $8 million to create sidewalks. Harper believes this should receive even greater emphasis given the city’s development history.

“Considering the history of Columbus and how it’s expanded, we have quite an expansive network of unsidewalk streets,” Harper said.

Two additional town halls are scheduled this week to continue budget discussions. The second meeting is set for Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Columbus COED, followed by a third session on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Woodward Park Community Center.