BIA Advocate

Nationally, according to the latest U.S. Commerce Department numbers released on April 16, nationwide housing starts rose for a third consecutive month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 units.

Permit issuance for new housing construction rose by a solid 7.5% in March – homes that be completed after expiration of the home buyer tax credit. Locally, the City of Columbus reports a 31% increase in first quarter permits over last year and almost equal to the first quarter of three years ago.

Delaware County SF permits totaled 113 for the first quarter, an increase of 69% over 2009 first quarter. Franklin County (excluding Columbus) permits totaled 125 for 2010 first quarter, an increase of 62% over 2009 first quarter.

Multi-family permits have increased from 86 (1st quarter 2009) to 492 (1st quarter 2010) in Franklin County. Licking County SF permits more than doubled from last year 38 (2009) to 87 (2010).

The May 4th primary is coming up fast. If you live in or your company does business in Delaware County, this is an important election for you. 

Four candidates will appear on the Republican ballot: Delaware City Council Member Carolyn Riggle, former 88th District State Rep. Dennis Stapleton, Delaware Council Member Andrew Brush and former county commissioner Jim Ward. Stapleton is the endorsed candidate by the Delaware County Republican Party.

Let me know if you would like more information about this race.

In one of my first posts, I discussed how the Delaware County Commissioners were looking for an extremely needed Economic Development Director. Today, I want to applaud the Commissioners for persevering at landing Gus Comstock, former Economic Development Director for the City of Delaware, for the position.

This position is valuable to all in Central Ohio and the fact that it had been vacant for 18 months was unacceptable. Good for the new commissioners to remain focused on solving this immediate challenge.  Here’s a recap of the story from This Week news.

Development post County ups ante to secure Comstock
Saturday,  April 4, 2009 7:03 PM
By CANDACE PRESTON-COY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
Delaware city development director Gus Comstock — who last week turned down the job of Delaware County development director at $87,000 a year — will take it at $91,000.
County commissioners Tommy Thompson and Todd Hanks on March 30 voted to increase Comstock’s pay offer to $91,000.
Comstock is too valuable to the future of Delaware County to let a few thousand dollars keep him from accepting the county’s economic development coordinator position, Thompson said.
On his application for the county position, Comstock asked for a salary of $92,000. His base salary as Delaware development director is $84,000 a year.
Comstock said the county job is a “tremendous opportunity” and he looks forward to playing a broader role in county development.
Commission vice president Ken O’Brien voted against the new offer, saying it was not fair to offer Comstock more money, when the commissioners are asking others to cut their budgets.
“I want to know where the money will come from to pay him,” O’Brien said. “We have a (budget) shortfall and I hate to take it from other people who have been effective for the city.”
Thompson said he understands O’Brien’s concerns but the county stands to lose more money than the extra $4,000 in salary through lost economic development opportunities.
Comstock can hit the ground running, he said, because he already knows who is interested in locating to the county and who could be persuaded to locate here.
Hanks said the immediate answer about where the money will come from is out of the $313,000 in carryover funds the county expects to have at the end of 2009.
That amount represents less than 1 percent of the county’s annual budget, O’Brien said, when county policy states they should have a 20 percent carryover to protect the county’s bond rating. “I think Mr. Comstock is a highly qualified individual but we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
“I am real concerned that for 18 months we have not had an economic coordinator. … We have also not spent money for a 911 director,” Thompson said.
“If we continue to do this with these critical positions, we will find ourselves behind the 8 ball and we’ll pay for it for the next 10 years,” he said.
“We are at the cusp when this thing (economic development in the county) breaks open. … We need to have someone in place who understands the county,” Thompson said.
After the vote O’Brien said he will “do all I can to welcome Mr. Comstock. … There are a great many things that can be accomplished in this county. I look forward to working with Mr. Comstock.”

Delaware County Commissioners have begun to grapple with their 2009 budget challenges and at this point have yet to make a move on the road and bridge funds that were orginally approved by voters in 1998.

There have been letters to the editor, actions by Township Trustees (see previous post) and also a poll by the Delaware Gazette that last running 3 to 1 against using road and bridge money for general purposes.

As you can see,  the current discussion amongst the commissioners is looking at other sources of revenue and perhaps expense reductions.

This issue is not final, it merits continued attention, as challenging economic times will remain for all of us.  Please make sure to comment here if you have any feelings about this issue; we’d love to share your feedback with the commissioners.

By the way …on a different topic: For your calendar,  this year’s Columbus Green Building Forum’s Green Building Expo is May 19. Click here for more info.

On this blog, I’ll post some issues that we are actively watching within local municipalities. Updates will follow as we know them. This one has to do with a pretty critical issue pending in Delaware County.

As you may have heard the Delware County Comissioners are considering diverting the long-standing road and bridge funds (generated by a tax approved by the voters in 1998) to their general revenue fund. Late last week, the Genoa Township Trustees weighed in on the issue. I’m re-printing their statement below which also gives some additional background on the issue.

The Commissioners have not voted officially, but we know the debate and vote will be coming up in the next week or so. If you have an opinion on this, we encourage you to post your comments here.
GENOA OPPOSES TRANSFER OF COUNTY ROAD & BRIDGE FUNDS TO COUNTY GENERAL FUND

GENOA TWP., OH – February 26, 2009 – The Genoa Township Board of Trustees met for a regular public meeting on February 25th at 7:00 p.m. at the Genoa Township Hall.

The Board discussed an issue that is expected to go before the Board of Delaware County Commissioners in the next couple weeks. Concern was expressed that the Commissioners may be diverting road and bridge sales tax revenues away from transportation projects as it has been used for the past ten (10) years.

Trustee David Engleson stated, “Such road and bridge improvements have been vital to serving the development of Genoa Township over the past decade. During an economic downturn like we are experiencing, it is vital that governmental entities sustain funding for necessary services such as improvements to our county and township’s roadways.”

Trustee Barbara Lewis agreed, stating “Genoa Township has directly benefited from the use of these funds for projects, such as the Sunbury Road bridge over Hoover Dam and the diversion of the sales tax away from its intended use will reduce the availability of funding for Genoa Township and deplete the county annual road and bridge revenues by over 60%.”

Trustee Chair Gerry Cotter affirmed, “Our ability to continually invest in our infrastructure gives us a competitive advantage that is a key to attracting viable and sustainable economic development in the community.”

The sales tax was approved by Delaware County voters in 1998 at a rate of 0.75% and originally dedicated 0.50% or two-thirds (2/3) of the sales tax specifically to funding county road and bridge projects. In 2007, the previous board of county commissioners unanimously voted to make the sales tax permanent with a continued allocation to county road and bridge projects. It is projected that the proposed diversion of these funds to other projects will decrease road and bridge funding by over sixty-percent (60%) in the County.

At the conclusion of discussion, the Board approved a resolution advocating the continued funding of roads and bridges with the existing stream of sales tax revenues.

Today we had a terrific turnout at the Economic Forecast where Ken Danter from the Danter Company and Bill Lafayette from the Columbus Chamber presented some thought-provoking analysis to our members and about 50 public officials.

In this video, we asked Ken to summarize his findings and afterwards, we gathered feedback from attendees.

BIA Economic Forecast from Bia Advocate on Vimeo.

This is a common refrain heard at many local zoning hearings when a community considers a development plan for new residential or commercial development in their town.

Those of us who are involved in private sector business know that it is the very economic growth that NIMBY’s oppose that creates a healthy community. When growth slows, like our current economic downturn, we all pay — including existing residents in a community.

Case in point — Delaware City’s current consideration of a 9.8% increase in water and sewer rates for current residents:

“The bulk is related to the sewer plant expansion,” said city finance director Dean Stelzer. “We hoped growth would pay for it, but we knew if growth slowed down and we didn’t raise enough fees, we would have to go back to the rate payers. … If development picks back up, the rates could be rolled back.” (This Week Delaware, February 15, 2009.)

The challenges of this current economic downturn will be met. Soon we will work our way back to economic growth opportunities. I hope that our communities will remember this lesson — well planned growth is in everyone’s best interest.

I applaud the action taken by the Delaware County Commissioners to hire an Economic Development Coordinator, a position that has sat dormant for far too long. We are pleased to see this progress reported in today’s Delaware Gazette. Why do we care so much? Because a strong economy has a balance of residential and jobs and recruiting jobs to Delaware has not been a top priority. Jobs equals homebuyers, which as we know leads to more jobs as homes are built. Congratulations to Commissioners Thompson, O’Brien and Hanks for taking this leadership.