News

Last week, the Franklin County Commissioners continued their ongoing investment in public health initiatives for their residents by providing a more-than $1.7 million grant to Franklin County Public Health (FCPH).  The grant will support FCPH’s Community Health Improvement Plan, which is a collective impact strategy to identify core health priority areas that impact the health and wellbeing of Franklin County residents and to develop plans to address those community-wide.  In addition, the funding will provide for training for FCPH staff, strategic planning, upgraded data and technology infrastructure, and additional resources to bring the agency’s services into the community to meet residents where they are.
 

For almost 30 years, Franklin County residents have benefited from their county government’s double Triple-A bond ratings from the ratings firms Moody’s Investors Service and Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings, making it just one of 2% of the nation’s 3,069 counties to enjoy this highest-possible rating.  Last week, Moody’s updated its credit analysis of Franklin County, retaining the Aaa rating and noting the county’s “strong financial management and resilient revenue base.”
 

The Franklin County Commissioners this morning voted to approve a $5 million grant to the Affordable Housing Trust of Columbus and Franklin County, which is an independent non-profit lender that works to develop affordable housing in Central Ohio.  More than 30,000 evictions have been filed in Franklin County since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a quarter of Ohio renters lack confidence in their ongoing ability to pay their rent.
 

This morning, the Franklin County Commissioners approved a $50,000 grant to Service! to fund relief and services for low-income hospitality workers in Central Ohio who continue to suffer the effects of the ongoing pandemic economy.  Service! was founded in 2020 to assist the many restaurant and hospitality workers that we all rely on, but who suddenly found themselves without work as the COVID-19 pandemic crested.  Service! began with boxed meals, and the moved on to directly raising money for low-income service workers in need.  This grant will allow Service! to widen its focus beyond direct assistance and to expand into programs that will help workers secure well-paid jobs for the future and ensure sustainability and equity in the workplace.
 

Each of the Franklin County Commissioners and several of their top staff are again in leadership positions this year with the National Association of Counties (NACo).  The organization represents nearly 40,000 elected officials serving in the more-than 3,000 American counties, helping share best practices among communities from across the nation and representing the interests of counties in Washington D.C.  As usual, Franklin County has more staff and commissioners among NACo leadership than any other county in Ohio.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners unanimously approved a $1 million grant for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio, allowing the nonprofit to help more families in their greatest hour of need and move the charity closer to meet their funding needs for completion of the world's largest Ronald McDonald House here in Columbus. 

All three Franklin County Commissioners will be in Washington D.C. tomorrow to meet with administration officials at the White House as part of an event to discuss local/federal partnerships, highlight the local impact of recently passed federal legislation, and share about how the administration can work even more closely with city and county officials in the future.  The event, Communities in Action: Building a Better Ohio, will be live-streamed at WhiteHouse.gov/Live, and media and the public are encouraged to watch.
 

A center which aims to reduce overdose deaths through an innovative, multidisciplinary approach and also targets known residents’ needs in the Franklinton community opens today, thanks to efforts by the Franklin County commissioners.

The Franklin County Commissioners passed a resolution this week authorizing updates to their employee pay structure, including raising the minimum pay of their employees to $17 per hour ($35,360 per year).  In order to address the “wage compression” that happens when just the lowest pay is increased, the changes will also include raising the minimum starting pay in each of the commissioners’ job classifications, and tenure raises for long-term employees.  The changes come following a salary and wage study performed by the national consulting firm, Clemans Nelson & Associates, and during what continues to be a tight labor market.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners this morning voted to approve a $2.5 million grant to the Mid-Ohio Food Collective to help that organization meet an unprecedented recent demand for food assistance.  One and a half million dollars of the grant will be dedicated to direct food purchases by the Food Collective, and $1 million will be targeted to support the local food system infrastructure in Franklin County.  The Mid-Ohio Food Collective works with a network of 680 partners and programs to provide more than 170,000 meals each day in Central and Eastern Ohio.