2021

At their final meeting of 2021, the Franklin County Commissioners this morning voted unanimously in favor of a county budget for 2022 that is balanced and forward-looking, and which contains no fee or tax increases.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners honor and thank the more than 20 million living veterans of America’s armed forces.  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.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners have launched a new webpage where residents can track how the county uses funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to help our community recover from the pandemic.  The site, Recovery.FranklinCountyOhio.gov provides information about the ARP, what it means for Franklin County, a graph of expenditures so far, and links to information about the individual expenditures.  The commissioners have already allocated more than $26 million for recovery.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners today approved a $2,537,300 contract with the Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio to fund Women @ Work, a program to support Franklin County women who are returning to the workforce following the pandemic.
 

This morning, the commissioners approved a $60,700 contract with a local public relations firm to create a communications plan and effort to educate Franklin County residents about resources that are available to them if they’re struggling to pay their rent or mortgage.  The commissioners invest more than $23 million in affordable housing and other homelessness prevention efforts each year, and in the past year and a half, they’ve added millions more in eviction and foreclosure prevention supports.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners this morning approved an additional $3.2 million in funding for their workforce training programs, Building Futures and Roads 2 Work.  The funding will come in the form of two contracts, the first of which is with the Columbus Urban League, which partners with the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council to offer the Building Futures pre-apprenticeship program that prepares former social services clients for middle class jobs in the construction trades.  The second contract is with IMPACT Community Action, which partners with Capital Transportation to offer the Roads 2 Work program to train underemployed Franklin County residents to get their commercial drivers’ licenses and connects them with careers in trucking.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners today approved a $90,000 grant to Franklin County Public Health to support increased education and communication throughout the county and in targeted zip codes to increase the wearing of masks and other COVID-19 mitigation methods.
 

Today, the Franklin County Commissioners approved a grant to A Kid Again, which fosters hope, happiness, and healing for children with life-threatening conditions and their families by providing therapeutic recreational experiences.  A Kid Again has been working in Franklin County for more than 25 years, allowing participating families to enjoy family-oriented adventures, including virtually and with Adventures-In-A-Box that create memories to last beyond the child’s life expectancy.
 

One of the resolutions passed by the Franklin County Commissioners at their weekly General Session meeting today will provide a $200,000 grant to Franklin County Public Health to prioritize health and wellness solutions for people of color in Franklin County.
 

The commissioners this morning allocated $5 million for grants rod nonprofit agencies that serve Franklin County residents and which have experienced revenue loss or increased costs due to the pandemic.  Grants of up to $50,000 will be available to nonprofits serving primarily low-income neighborhoods, with lower grant amounts available to other agencies.