Columbus committee hears 2026 housing budget as providers seek more operating dollars
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Summary
City officials and community partners told the Columbus City Council’s housing, homelessness and building committee that capital dollars and recent reforms have advanced housing goals but operating subsidies, staff capacity and prevention/diversion programs are needed to avoid rising homelessness and eviction rates; the Community Shelter Board asked the city for $14.3 million in additional funds.
Columbus City Council’s housing, homelessness and building committee met to review the administration’s proposed 2026 housing and development budgets and to hear community partners’ funding requests. Council President Harden opened the hearing by warning that the city’s housing demand outpaces supply and citing recent local data: roughly 100,000 additional homes will be needed over the next decade, more than 24,000 eviction filings occurred in Franklin County last year, and about 2,500 people were counted as experiencing homelessness in the most recent point-in-time count.
Chair Tiara Ross said the committee will prioritize understanding departmental capacity and implementation pathways, adding, “Housing is a life or death matter.” Deputy Director Hannah Jones described the Development Department’s structure and said about 58% of the department’s operating budget is devoted to housing and housing stability; she said a $22 million operating budget supports the staff that deploy an estimated $125 million in capital and federal funding next year.
Deputy Director Aaron Prosser emphasized the division’s full-spectrum approach — prevention, stabilization and housing production — and reiterated that voter-approved affordable housing bonds (totaling roughly $750 million authorized to date) remain a central capital source; Prosser said the city has deployed a little over $200 million of those bond dollars so far. He described programs in the proposed budget such as the Resilient Housing Initiative (crisis coaching, case management and flexible cash assistance) and continued support for access to counsel in eviction court.
Council members focused on constraints in the mayor’s proposed budget, including the removal of vacant positions and the transfer or reshaping of some federal HOME and tenant-based assistance dollars into the general fund. Staff said they are working with the Department of Finance and the mayor’s office to identify critical positions and avoid bottlenecks that would slow capital deployment and program delivery.
Director Scott Messer, describing Building and Zoning Services, said the department processed roughly 50,000 permits and 100,000 inspections in the last year and that the 2026 development services fund is budgeted at about $34.9 million. Messer said the development services fund may cover some gaps created by general-fund cuts but stressed that those funds are legally restricted to activities tied to private development.
Messer highlighted the city’s fast-track effort for housing projects, saying it cut average timelines roughly in half in 2025 and reduced a typical six-month process to about 90 days in some cases — a change the department says helps keep projects eligible for time-sensitive financing and lowers carrying costs that can affect eventual affordability.
Community partners at the hearing welcomed the administration’s “pro-housing” posture but urged more operating support. Carly Boos of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio highlighted eviction and affordability data and praised proposed investments including $5 million for prevention programming and support for Columbus’s access-to-counsel program. Ian Labatou of the Affordable Housing Trust described AHT’s recent lending and leverage activity and said patient, below-market capital is needed to make deals work.
The hearing did not include a formal vote; council members said budget decisions and potential amendments will be resolved in the coming weeks as they balance operating needs, bond deployment and legal constraints on special funds. The committee requested continued dialogue with the administration and partner organizations to identify priority staffing and program investments that would preserve core shelter operations while expanding prevention and diversion to reduce unsheltered homelessness.
