Region will fare quite well in capital projects funding

When Gov. John Kasich first broached the idea of a special commission being given the responsibility to develop a priority list for state-funded construction projects at Ohio’s 37 public universities and colleges, our reaction was one we’ve used quite often to express our misgivings about spending decisions being made in Columbus: “Here we go again.”

Historically, Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties have not fared as well as other regions in the competition for state dollars. It has been even more of a challenge with regard to discretionary spending by state government. Hence, our reaction to the governor’s plan for higher education capital improvement projects.

But, we now admit to being pleasantly surprised by the amount of money that will be spent in this region should the governor approve the recommendations of the Ohio Higher Education Funding Commission, which was led by Ohio State University President Dr. Gordon Gee. The other members of the commission were the presidents of the University of Toledo, Miami University, Lakeland Community College, Zane State College, and the heads of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges and the Inter-University Council of Ohio.

The commission put together a list of construction projects for the next two fiscal years that carry a price tag of $350 million. Of that, $13.46 million will come to Youngstown State University, Eastern Gateway Community College, Kent State University-Trumbull, Kent State-Salem and Northeast Ohio Medical University. While the total may not seem that significant when compared to the overall amount, the reality is that had the old funding formula been in place, the region would not have fared any better.

“We worked hard to make sure our requests were in line with the commission’s guiding principles for use of capital funds for higher education,” said Ron Cole, spokesman for Youngstown State, which stands to receive $9.4 million. “In particular, we focused much of our request ... on projects that deal with maintaining current buildings rather than building new.”

At Eastern Gateway Community College, spokeswoman Ann Koon said the $950,000 that the commission recommended is in line with what the institution thought it would receive.

Kent State-Trumbull is in line for $855.000, while the Salem campus will receive $485,000.

Public-private funding

NEOMED, the medical school in Rootstown, will get $1 million for capital improvements, plus another $775,000 under a public-private funding plan.

Gov. Kasich is to be commended for being creative in the allocation of state dollars, especially given the budgetary challenges Ohio continues to face. Indeed, the biennium capital budget, which will be approved shortly, does not contain any money for community projects. Youngstown, in particular, had long sought and secured those dollars for various revitalization initiatives, especially in the central business district.

There’s another reason the governor’s commission was a good idea: It builds on the Ohio University System that former Gov. Ted Strickland and chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, Eric Fingerhut, launched in 2007.

The goal was to give Ohioans the biggest bang for the higher education buck.