Explanation
In November 2025 voters overwhelmingly approved the issuance of bonds in the amount of $500 million for the purpose of promoting neighborhood and community development and affordable housing within the City of Columbus by purchasing, constructing, demolishing, renovating, improving, equipping and furnishing residential and commercial structures in the City, and acquiring, clearing, testing, remediating environmental issues, extending utilities, and otherwise improving residential and commercial sites in the City, and providing funds for grants in connection with the same. (“Affordable Housing Bonds”)
The issuance of the Affordable Housing Bonds is a critical step to ensuring that Columbus remains an affordable and accessible city for both homeowners and renters.
As the dollars are committed, an important part of safeguarding public funds is ensuring that the bond dollars are allocated in a transparent, consistent way that serves the core needs of Columbus residents and aligns with other City and regional strategies for housing, infrastructure, transportation, equity, and growth. Ensuring that the allocation and use of the housing focused dollars remains transparent for City residents is a top priority for Columbus City Council.
This ordinance requires the Director of the Department of Development to provide a public, transparent process on an annual basis in coordination with Columbus City Council for the allocation of Affordable Housing Bond dollars for the following five years, after which Council will review this process. This includes an annual:
• Publication of any competitive and/or non-competitive specific pools, set-asides, requests for proposals, or distinct allocations for specific purposes or groups alongside intended amount allocated by September 1 of that year;
• Creation and public dissemination of a clear, competitive application process for recipients seeking funds to be competitively allocated for that year, including a timetable for applications (even if rolling) for the proposed allocation of funds along with the criteria for selection or scoring from among those projects;
• A framework for spending and decision-making that aligns with the following priorities for funded projects:
o Diversity of developers, including not-for-profit organizations and/or small or emerging developers;
o A range of development types, including large multifamily, missing middle, and single family;
o Projects that address housing need at all levels, including those that immediately address the homelessness crisis, provide deeper levels of affordability; and
o Projects that support the region’s transit-oriented development plans.
• Public hearing(s) on the published priorities for the allocation bond dollars for input and feedback by September 30 of each year;
• Publication of an annual report published by September 1 on how the bond dollars have been allocated in the prior year, including funded recipients, units preserved or produced, the affordability levels of those units and expected AMI bands, and period of affordability for units.
Council recognizes that allocating and spending these dollars is more complex than simply administering an annual grants application:
• The City is tasked with building a nimble, flexible pipeline of viable housing opportunities that require or would benefit from public subsidy.
• Affordable housing projects often require a long runway, relying on a complex capital stack with complex timelines, and that projects may evolve over time; not all projects ultimately come to fruition. Some projects may seek early verbal, informal, commitments of potential support years before legislation is ready to come before Council to ordain spending.
• Moreover, not all of the bond proceeds will be spent on competitively-sourced affordable housing preservation and production projects. It is appropriate for some projects to originate with the City departments identifying acute needs for which certain community partners are logical to identify as part of the solution upfront. Nevertheless, each investment should meet a standard of transparency.
• Additionally, it is understood that the City doesn’t immediately have access to all $500M of liquidity following voter approval. Instead, the City Auditor must organize periodic bond sales based on market conditions over a period of years. Those initial dollars may not be available until 2026 or 2027.
These processes should remain in effect for the following five years, after which time, Council can evaluate the processes.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact.
Title
To require the Director of the Department of Development to provide and adhere to a transparent process on an annual basis for the allocation of Affordable Housing Bond dollars, including an overview of the forthcoming year’s goals for the Affordable Housing Bonds, the details of a fair, transparent, competitive process for allocation of funds, participation at an annual public hearing on the Affordable Housing Bonds, and an annual publication reporting on the allocation in the prior year. ($0.00)
Body
WHEREAS, it is necessary for the Director of the Department of Development to provide transparency and accountability in the dissemination of the Affordable Housing Bond funds; and
WHEREAS, the Affordable Housing Bond dollars are planned to be spent beginning in 2026; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That the Director of the Department of Development shall, by September 1 of each year, submit to the City Clerk a report that includes the following:
a. Creation and public dissemination of a clear, competitive application process for recipients seeking funds that will be competitively allocated, including a timetable for applications (even if rolling) for the allocation of funds and the criteria for selection or scoring from among those projects;
b. A framework for spending and decision-making that aligns with the following priorities for funded projects:
i. diversity of developers, including not-for-profit organizations and/or small or emerging developers;
ii. a range of development types, including large multifamily, missing middle, and single family;
iii. projects that address housing need at all levels, including those that immediately address the homelessness crisis, provide deeper levels of affordability; and
iv. projects that support the region’s transit-oriented development plans.
c. A publicly available annual report published by September 1 on how bond dollars were allocated in the prior year, including funded recipients, projects, units preserved or produced, and the affordability levels of those units, including AMI bands.
SECTION 2. That for the purpose of providing an opportunity for public and Councilmember feedback, Columbus City Council shall convene a public hearing between September 1 and September 30 for the following five years, the subject of which shall be the proposed use of Affordable Housing Bond dollars for the upcoming calendar year.
SECTION 3. That on or after October 1 of each year for the following five years, Columbus City Council shall adopt by resolution a summary of the annual allocation goals and intended use of Affordable Housing Bond dollars for the subsequent calendar year, which may incorporate changes following the public hearing.
SECTION 4. That this process will remain in effect for five years, from passage in 2026 through 2031, at which point Columbus City Council and the Department of Development shall review the process.
SECTION 5. That this ordinance shall take effect at the earliest date allowable by law.