Endorsement: Pass Columbus State Community College Bond Issue

– The Columbus Dispatch | Tuesday, Dec 3, 2019

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"We’re saying it early, and we will say it more than once: Franklin County voters should approve Columbus State Community College’s proposed 24-year 0.65-mill bond issue on March 17. "

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One of the most pressing issues of our time is how to provide employers of tomorrow with enough people possessing the skills and inclination to fill new jobs needed to keep our economy humming.

The shorthand for that need is “workforce development”; that is the phrase you hear most often if you ask central Ohio business leaders what keeps them up at night.

Ask how they expect the challenge to be met and don’t be surprised if the frequent answer is “Columbus State Community College.”

Columbus State is a true community asset. It offers one of the best higher-education values in Ohio while also preparing young people and midcareer adults to work in jobs that will require them to use new technology in a range of fields from health care and hospitality to manufacturing and mobility.

That is why The Dispatch does not hesitate to endorse the college’s request for a small bond issue on the March primary election ballot to help it provide the facilities and equipment necessary to train our future workforce.

We’re saying it early, and we will say it more than once: Franklin County voters should approve Columbus State Community College’s proposed 24-year 0.65-mill bond issue on March 17.

The bond issue — a first-ever request by Columbus State for property-tax support — would provide about $300 million toward a $441 million phased-in update to the college’s classrooms, labs and buildings so students will be learning the skills and technology employers need them to have.

Of course voters should view any new tax request with a critical eye; we believe this one should pass all scrutiny.

The request is modest — costing about $24 a year per $100,000 of property valuation.

It is valid for Franklin County voters to question why Columbus State should ask them alone to support the bond issue when the college has a small presence in three other counties and draws students from throughout central Ohio.

President David Harrison explains that three-fourths or more of Columbus State students come from Franklin County, and $390 million worth of the $441 million capital update will be to Franklin County facilities. None of the bond proceeds would be spent outside of Franklin County.

Fourteen other community colleges across Ohio have taxpayer support for capital improvements and operations but the Ohio General Assembly just recently gave Columbus State and eight other community colleges serving multi-county areas the right to ask voters for help to maintain and update their buildings and equipment. Previously, they have relied on tuition and appropriations from the state’s capital budget to fund those needs.

Under Harrison’s nearly 10-year tenure, Columbus State has wisely developed creative partnerships with area business leaders to stay abreast of employers’ needs. Mitchell Hall is a recent example, with restaurateur Cameron Mitchell helping to raise $10 million in private funds for the $35 million project to double capacity of the school’s hospitality management and culinary arts program.

Columbus State had a chance to be one of 10 regional training sites for Tesla, Harrison said, but lost out to Michigan because it didn’t have the modern manufacturing capability the electric carmaker needed to educate its future workers.

Passage of the Columbus State bond issue will keep needed workforce development in Franklin County.