Columbus announces $2B bond issue for November ballot

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- In November, Columbus voters will see a nearly $2 billion bond package on the ballot.

The city of Columbus goes to the voters with a bond package about every three years and Mayor Andrew Ginther proposed the 2025 package on Thursday. It’s the largest in history at $1.9 billion.

“The city sells bonds to investors,” Ginther said. “We use the money raised from the bond sale to fund capital projects. We’re able to invest in ourselves, create jobs, invest in neighborhoods without raising taxes.”

A lot of the money in the proposed bond package would go toward improving public utilities like water lines, sidewalks, streets and bridges. Recreation and parks would also get a large chunk of money to build new pools, parks and community centers.

“We’re not interested in just getting bigger; we want to get better,” Ginther said. “That means we’ve got to invest in ourselves and our infrastructure and our future, put people to work, fund basic city services, make neighborhoods safer and stronger.”

Affordable housing efforts in the city would receive $500 million.

Data from Homeport, an affordable housing nonprofit in Columbus, showed that from 2023 to 2024 citizens experienced a 17% average increase in rent.

“We did not get to the top of the growth and economic success without intentional investment,” Homeport President and CEO Leah Evans said. “It is because of our ability to stand here in the present and imagine a future, that we're able to welcome all of our coming residents, but also celebrate and uplift our current residents.”

Ginther said the funds would help preserve affordable housing units, rehabilitate aging homes and build brand new ones.

“We needed to make sure we were putting forth the most ambitious housing requests to the voters of this city in the history of this city, because this crisis is one that needs all hands on deck,” Ginther said.

Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said Columbus needs to continue to invest in itself.

“It’s about the water that we drink, the homes that we live in and the services that we all depend on every day,” Hardin said. “This is a long-term investment in modernizing Columbus block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood.”

The next step is for Columbus City Council members to discuss the proposal. The first public hearing is scheduled for May 27; community members who want a say in how the money is spent are encouraged to attend.

For more information about the bond package and how it works, check out the city’s website by clicking here.