FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONER
As the administrative head of Franklin County government, the Board of Commissioners sets the strategic direction and fiscal priorities for the 30th largest county in the nation. A board of three county commissioners serves as the general administrative body for 86 of 88 Ohio counties. Commissioners are elected to a four-year term.
Given specific and limited authority by the Ohio Revised Code, the Board of Commissioners holds title to all county properties, serves as the sole taxing authority for the county and controls county purchasing.
Most importantly, the Board of Commissioners is the budget and appropriating authority for county government which includes all county agencies and elected officials (Sheriff, Auditor, Treasurer, Courts, etc.)
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners manages an annual budget of $1.5 billion and works with business and community leaders to preserve the high quality of life that makes Franklin County a great place to live and work. The annual budget reflects a solid commitment to the Commissioners' goals to provide community safety, security and effective justice, promote job creation, strategic economic development and fiscal security, provide supportive health and human services, promote good stewardship of natural resources, environmental sustainability and civic engagement and provide efficient, responsive and fiscally sustainable government operations.
For example, the ability of Franklin County residents to receive care and treatment for their health needs remains a high priority of the Board of Commissioners, especially regarding the care and health of our community's children. The Commissioners work hand-in-hand with the City of Columbus, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and partners throughout the community to help reduce the rate and number of premature births, and have invested more than $7 million in the project.
Another way that the commissioners are working to help improve the health of our community is with the Local Food Action Plan, a partnership with Columbus, Local Matters, and more than 1,000 resident who have worked to develop a plan to improve residents’ access to quality, nutritious, affordable food. A link to the plan can be found on the commissioners’ website, as can information about the 2017 Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement Award the commissioners received for their work on food security.
The commissioners are also building our community through their Smart Works suite of economic development initiatives. This program includes grants and revolving loans to bring jobs and growth to Franklin County by building infrastructure, revitalizing local downtowns, training employees for the jobs of the future, and going greener in existing buildings. These investments in our people, businesses, and future are already paying dividends.
Franklin County government is known for its leadership and continues to be recognized nationally for sound financial planning and overall management practices. The County maintains the highest long-term bond rating issued by both Moody's Investor Services (Aaa) and Standard & Poor's (AAA) for its general obligation debt. These ratings place Franklin County among the top 1.8% percent of counties nationwide.
Franklin County was also recognized as one of the best managed counties in America in a study conducted by Governing Magazine and Syracuse University. In a five-tiered evaluation of overall management, only four counties in America ranked higher than Franklin County.
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Given specific and limited authority by the Ohio Revised Code, the Board of Commissioners holds title to all county properties, serves as the sole taxing authority for the county and controls county purchasing.
Most importantly, the Board of Commissioners is the budget and appropriating authority for county government which includes all county agencies and elected officials (Sheriff, Auditor, Treasurer, Courts, etc.)
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners manages an annual budget of $1.5 billion and works with business and community leaders to preserve the high quality of life that makes Franklin County a great place to live and work. The annual budget reflects a solid commitment to the Commissioners' goals to provide community safety, security and effective justice, promote job creation, strategic economic development and fiscal security, provide supportive health and human services, promote good stewardship of natural resources, environmental sustainability and civic engagement and provide efficient, responsive and fiscally sustainable government operations.
For example, the ability of Franklin County residents to receive care and treatment for their health needs remains a high priority of the Board of Commissioners, especially regarding the care and health of our community's children. The Commissioners work hand-in-hand with the City of Columbus, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and partners throughout the community to help reduce the rate and number of premature births, and have invested more than $7 million in the project.
Another way that the commissioners are working to help improve the health of our community is with the Local Food Action Plan, a partnership with Columbus, Local Matters, and more than 1,000 resident who have worked to develop a plan to improve residents’ access to quality, nutritious, affordable food. A link to the plan can be found on the commissioners’ website, as can information about the 2017 Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement Award the commissioners received for their work on food security.
The commissioners are also building our community through their Smart Works suite of economic development initiatives. This program includes grants and revolving loans to bring jobs and growth to Franklin County by building infrastructure, revitalizing local downtowns, training employees for the jobs of the future, and going greener in existing buildings. These investments in our people, businesses, and future are already paying dividends.
Franklin County government is known for its leadership and continues to be recognized nationally for sound financial planning and overall management practices. The County maintains the highest long-term bond rating issued by both Moody's Investor Services (Aaa) and Standard & Poor's (AAA) for its general obligation debt. These ratings place Franklin County among the top 1.8% percent of counties nationwide.
Franklin County was also recognized as one of the best managed counties in America in a study conducted by Governing Magazine and Syracuse University. In a five-tiered evaluation of overall management, only four counties in America ranked higher than Franklin County.
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FRANKLIN COUNTY AUDITOR
The Franklin County Auditor serves as the Chief Fiscal Officer of the county and is responsible for maintaining accurate records of all money received by or paid out of the county treasury. The auditor’s fiscal staff processes revenue, budgetary, accounts payable and payroll transactions. The sufficiency of cash balances to cover expenditures is closely monitored.
Financial Reports
The Financial Reporting Department generates and distributes daily and monthly reports to county agencies and departments, providing detailed and summarized information about financial activity. The department also compiles and publishes the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. This report reflects the financial position of the County and the results of its operations. A second report, the Popular Annual Financial Report, is more “user friendly,” providing significant information about the county in a clear and concise format. Editions of both reports are available on our website at: franklincountyauditor. com/fiscal/financial-reports Unclaimed Funds The Fiscal Services Division serves as trustee of the County’s unclaimed funds
Financial Reports
The Financial Reporting Department generates and distributes daily and monthly reports to county agencies and departments, providing detailed and summarized information about financial activity. The department also compiles and publishes the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. This report reflects the financial position of the County and the results of its operations. A second report, the Popular Annual Financial Report, is more “user friendly,” providing significant information about the county in a clear and concise format. Editions of both reports are available on our website at: franklincountyauditor. com/fiscal/financial-reports Unclaimed Funds The Fiscal Services Division serves as trustee of the County’s unclaimed funds
FRANKLIN COUNTY ENGINEER
hio became the 17th State of the Union in 1803, and Franklin County, named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, was one of the first counties created by the new general assembly for settlement by Revolutionary War veterans and refugees.
Guiding the development of the new frontier was the County Surveyor whose primary job was to clarify land titles and property boundaries. Population and economic growth, however, expanded the County Surveyor’s duties to include the planning and design of local roads and bridges.
In 1935, the Ohio Legislature redesignated the County Surveyor’s position to that of County Engineer. Only persons who meet the rigorous standard of holding Ohio licenses as both a Professional Engineer and Professional Surveyor may qualify for the public office, which is elected every four years.
From the early dirt, wooden plank and granite block roads to today’s modern thoroughfares of asphalt and concrete, the Engineer’s office is continuing the historic tradition of meeting the County’s transportation and land record needs.
Today, the Franklin County Engineer’s Office is responsible for the maintenance and construction of 271 miles of county roadway. Improvements to county roads range from resurfacing, reconstruction and widening projects to Highway Maintenance Department operations. This work includes pavement and berm repairs, drainage upgrades, traffic signal management, sign and guardrail installation, lane striping, and snow and ice removal. During the winter months, “Snow Fighter” crews work around the clock to maintain safety on nearly 800 miles of roads and streets, and we provide road salt to 23 communities and public entities.
The Engineer’s office is also responsible for the inspection, maintenance and rebuilding of 351 county bridges and 185 culverts. Notable structures include Beach Road over Big Darby Creek; Hayden Run Road, Fishinger Road, and Greenlawn Avenue over the Scioto River; and Lane Avenue, King Avenue, and Third Avenue over the Olentangy River.
Survey
To meet the continuing development and infrastructure needs of Franklin County, the Engineer’s office utilizes the latest technologies for surveying, tax map maintenance, and land record keeping. Use of a countywide network of horizontal and vertical control monuments and the satellite Global Positioning System (GPS) enables the most accurate surveys necessary for the design of construction projects and the definition of road centerlines, property limits, and county, municipal and township boundaries.
The Engineer’s office maintains the property layers of the County Auditor’s Geographic Information System (GIS) along with other related road records, historical maps, and annexation plats. This is the foundation for the development of our comprehensive county road map and atlas that is distributed to the public through the Engineer’s Office
Storm Water
In addition to our transportation and land record keeping duties, the County Engineer’s Office works to control flooding, prevent erosion, and promote better water quality within the public right-of-way along county roads in township areas.
To fulfill these goals, we perform a variety of drainage services that include inspection and inventory of all county drainage structures; use of video camera equipment for underground inspections; cleaning and debris removal; replacement of deteriorated or insufficient roadway drain tile, pipe, and catch basins; and construction of new storm water management facilities including roadway drainage tile, pipe, catch basins, and pre-cast concrete box culverts.
The County Engineer is not responsible for storm water management on private property, but drainage assistance in unincorporated areas can be requested through the county’s ditch petition process, or for new subdivisions, through the subdivision platting process. The cost of these improvements are then assessed to the property owners in the petitioned areas.
Currently, the county’s petition ditch inventory includes 94 miles of open ditches, and 147 miles of closed (tiled) ditches.
Snow and Ice
During inclement weather, more than 100 Franklin County Engineer ͞Snow Fighter͟ personnel work around the clock to maintain safe travel on 766 lane miles of roads and streets, and provide road salt and anti-icing chemicals to 23 communities and public agencies.
Deployed in two twelve-hour shifts from two regional facilities and the 970 Dublin Road Headquarters, the snow fighters operate 31 dump trucks equipped with plows and computerized salt spreaders that maximize efficiency. They clear 25 designated routes, as well as those requested by other agencies.
Route checkers, traveling in vehicles equipped with pavement temperature sensors, are in constant contact with command post dispatchers who communicate with the county sheriff’s office, police, and public service departments to ensure fast and efficient snow and ice removal. The dispatchers also monitor the latest weather information from the AccuWeather Forecasting System and the National Weather Service.
Snow Fighter support personnel includes mechanics that provide essential vehicle repair and preventive maintenance services, and heavy equipment operators that use front-end loaders, stationed at our regional facilities, to load salt trucks and remove snowdrifts from roadways.
