Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther rolled out his $2.9 billion capital budget proposal for 2025 on Tuesday.
The budget proposal includes $50 million to build and preserve affordable housing.
It also includes $14 million for a new police substation at Easton and close to $8 million to improve safety at high-crash intersections.
And it contains close to $1 billion for a fourth water plant, and money for new Tuttle and Marion-Franklin pools.
During a press conference Tuesday at the Rickenbacker Woods Foundation and Learning Center in Driving Park, Ginther spoke about the continuing need for affordable housing.
"We've used our capital budget previously to support the construction and developments like Mulby Place in Linden, Topiary Park downtown, and the Sinclair on the north side of the city," Ginther said. "This will help keep those investments flowing because we know that everybody deserves a safe, affordable place to live in our community. If you work here, you ought to be able to afford to live here. And that's what this investment is all about."
Ginther also talked about the $5 million that would go toward safety improvements in the four "Clean and Safe" corridors — Livingston, Parsons and Sullivant avenues and North High Street in the Short North. That would include more lighting and security cameras.
Some other highlights in the proposed budget are:
- $26 million for street resurfacing projects
- $10 million for the Capital Line cultural trail project downtown
- $7.9 million for sidewalk improvements
- $7.7 million for facilities managed by Columbus non-profits, including the Columbus Urban League, the Poindexter Village Museum, St. Stephen's Community House, the King Arts Complex, Junior Achievement, COSI and the Franklin Park Conservatory.
"These are our partner organizations that provide great services to our neighbors throughout the city. And this is a time when a many human service organizations and nonprofits are seeing cuts and freezes by the state and federal governments," Ginther said.
Columbus City Council must approve the capital budget before it can be formally adopted.
