Between 2000 and 2020 U.S. Census data shows metro Columbus has added 426,000 people. Since the entire state of Ohio shows growth of just 322,000 over the same period, all population growth in the entire state is contained in the Columbus region. Without Columbus, Ohio is going backwards.
The Columbus area work force grew by 215,000 people while Ohio’s total work force declined by 91,000. Except for Columbus, the data confirms what is obvious to the naked eye: Most of Ohio is in slow decline.
In a historically disastrous policy error, Ohio’s ruling Republicans have decimated the Local Government Fund since the Kasich Administration took office in 2011, just when cities, towns, and villages beyond Columbus needed the financial assistance more than ever. Since 2011, Ohio tax data shows a loss of $2.5 billion to the Local Government Fund because the state cut the 3.68 percent of general revenue funds historically shared.
For a decade, state officials have bragged about an ever-growing rainy day fund built by starving local government rather than tightening any belts in state government. Now, vast swaths of Ohio have become shabby and even blighted because of the combination of fewer workers producing local revenue and the massive cuts from state government. Cutting Ohio’s Local Government Fund by two-thirds for over a decade has enriched Columbus at the expense of every other Ohio location.
The politics of this policy change are counterproductive for the party that implemented it. Franklin County, where Columbus is the county seat, now provides huge margins for the Democratic candidate in every statewide race. Bottling up Ohio tax money in Columbus, as Ohio’s ruling Republicans have done for a decade, builds a community that strongly opposes their agenda.
Just as puzzling is the strong support for Republicans in communities across the state where they have received less financial support as a percentage of state resources than in any other 10-year period in modern Ohio history. The GOP is literally presiding over the economic demise of its base while basking in their applause.
The first act necessary to bring Ohio back is for citizens outside the Columbus metro to insist on restoration of the Local Government Fund. With adequate resources Ohio’s cities, towns, and villages can be trusted to turn things around for the rest of the state.
First Published November 21, 2022, 5:00 a.m.
