Warren County staff brief commissioners on state capital budget process as local submission window closes

Candace Francis of Warren County Economic Development told commissioners the county’s application window for the State of Ohio’s capital spending/bond program is open and that today is the county’s internal deadline for submissions into the local prioritization process. She said the county is facilitating a community-driven prioritization and that project sponsors will present to a 15-member task force next week ahead of the state submission deadline of March 12.

Francis said the county’s role is largely logistical and convening: “We did send that out via email blast, and then it's also been posted on our website for anyone interested in applying,” she said, adding that the task force includes public, private and nonprofit representatives who review and rank applications. She described the goal as offering legislators a single, countywide set of priorities to consider within the state’s bonding authority.

Commissioners and staff discussed schedule and participation. One commissioner said the legislative timeline had been accelerated and asked staff to contact Commissioner Grossman to see if he could represent the commission on the task force when another commissioner is out of town. A commissioner also requested that, after staff assembles the projects, the full list be circulated to all commissioners for transparency and asked staff to check whether the board has previously provided letters of support for community-prioritized projects.

Board members emphasized the county staff will verify whether applications meet state eligibility and bondability requirements before they are forwarded; past submissions have been excluded by the legislature when they did not meet those criteria. Francis said the county allows a small amount of flexibility on deadlines in some circumstances but needs a firm cut-off to schedule presentations.

Francis said nonprofit groups may submit projects that partner with the county on fixed components — citing potential interest from groups that have looked at repurposing the old jail on Silver Street — but that any such submission would need a bona fide end user and to meet bondability rules.

Next steps: project sponsors will present to the task force next week, the task force will rank and prioritize projects, and staff will circulate the packaged list and report the outcome of the process to the commission. The county will consider whether to return for an additional work session before the state deadline if commissioners request it.