News

This morning, the Franklin County Commissioners released their annual State of the County Report, and an interactive website that give the community valuable insight into how their Franklin County government is working for them.  The report is available at Report.FranklinCountyOhio.gov, and broken into sections based on the commissioners’ six core principles of good governance, Safety and Security, Economic Development, Health and Human Services, Environmental Sustainability, Fiscally Responsible Government, and Racial Equity.  This year’s report shows that the county has maintained its double Triple A bond rating throughout the pandemic, one of only about 3% of local governments with a credit score that high.  It notes that the county’s “rainy day” fund is $85 million, and details some of the ways that the commissioners have allocated more then $200 million in American Rescue Plan funds.
 

This morning, the Franklin County Commissioners unanimously approved a contract with the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Healthy Homes program for $15.5 million to support the creation of more than 200 new units of affordable housing in the Linden neighborhood.  In addition to supporting the construction of 33 new houses, the funding will be leveraged to secure additional funding for hundreds of additional units that will be available for low-income families to rent.
 

The 2022 Local Food Action Plan Annual Report was adopted and launched by the City-County Local Food Board on Friday, April 14, 2023.

The Franklin County Commissioners announced this morning new grants totaling $1,683,000 to community partner organizations for the purpose of promoting equity in healthcare for Franklin County residents.  The nine grant recipients and their initiatives were chosen from among more than 50 applicants because of their focus on reducing disparities in health outcomes primarily for populations that have been historically underserved by high-quality healthcare and health services.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., including his dream that America could one day live up to its creed that all people are created equal, and his enduring legacy of service.  The commissioners encourage all Franklin County residents to set aside time today for service to the community in honor of King’s legacy and to continue to make our county a wonderful place to live.
 
All county offices are closed today in observance of the holiday.
 

The Franklin County Board of Commissioners selected John O’Grady to serve as president of the board for 2023.  This is his fourth term of office and his sixth stint as board president.

Franklin County is the first local government in the country to join the Justice Counts initiative intended to provide criminal justice statistics quicker and improve public safety.

This morning, at their last General Session meeting of the year, the Franklin County Commissioners approved the county’s more-than $2 billion annual budget for 2023.  As the administrative division of county government, the commissioners directly oversee 14 county agencies and set the budget for all of county government, including agencies that report to other elected officials.  They held three days of budget hearings in November at which agencies presented highlights from 2022 and their budget requests for next year.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners opened their annual budget hearings this afternoon with a presentation from County Administrator Kenneth N. Wilson, in which Wilson laid out his proposal for a more-than $2 billion county budget for 2023.  The commissioners will host three days of hearings in which various county agencies will highlight their accomplishments from 2022 and present their budget proposals for the year ahead.  The commissioners set the budget for all 35 county agencies, even those that report to other elected county officials, and will vote to approve the final budget in December.

The Franklin County Commissioners honor and thank the more than 20 million living veterans of America’s armed forces and the many thousands who call our community home.  Their service and sacrifice, and that of their families, has preserved our nation of high ideals and helped America to project a beacon of freedom around the world.
 
All county offices are closed today in observance of the holiday.