Franklin County at a glance
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Franklin County has $85 million stowed away in its "rainy day fund," should an economic emergency be on the horizon.
Driving the news: This and other nuggets are in the latest State of the County report, with data from 2022.
Why it matters: The report offers a bird's-eye view of Franklin County's spending priorities and public needs being addressed.
Here's more data about our growing county:
Community
🐶 3,137: Dogs adopted from the county shelter last year.
- 19,000: Volunteer hours spent walking and caring for shelter dogs. The shelter could always use more.
🗑️ 1 million: Pounds of food waste arriving at the landfill every day.
- We divert a higher percentage of waste from the landfill than the national average, but the county hopes to boost recycling and composting even more.
👨👩👦👦 3.15 million: People expected to live in Central Ohio by 2050, per the latest Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission estimate, up from around 2.42 million in 2020.
- The county is expected to gain around 360,000 additional residents.
Government
🕯️ 5,887: Deaths reported to the coroner's office last year.
- That figure has risen every year since 2015.
🚗 128: Alternative fuel vehicles driven by county employees — around 25% of the total fleet.
🙌 33: Employees hired last year via the County Futures program, a partnership with the Columbus Urban League.
- The goal is to train low-income residents and offer a "clear path to the Middle Class."
Spending
📷 $2.5 million: Cost to purchase new body cameras for hundreds of sheriff's deputies.
🚔 57.4%: Portion of the general fund budget devoted to safety and security, including the sheriff's office and court system.
- The county is in the process of replacing its downtown jail with a new $360 million facility on Fisher Road.
💰 $212 million: Pandemic relief funds from the American Rescue Plan spent on infrastructure, housing, public health and other social services.
- After investing $34 million on rental and utility assistance last week, commissioners said the county still has $16 million in unspent relief money, WOSU reported.