New Albany and Gahanna stand to gain if state lawmakers approve a push by Ohio's largest cities to boost funding for local police, firefighters and housing.
The Ohio Mayors Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 30 municipalities, unveiled four policy priorities for 2027 at a Sept. 4 announcement, NBC4 reported. The proposals ask the Ohio General Assembly to send more money to cities for public safety and housing and to revisit how the state shares revenue with local governments.
Neither New Albany nor Gahanna is large enough to belong to the Alliance, which includes Columbus, Cleveland, Dublin and Kettering among its members. But both cities receive dollars from the state Local Government Fund, one of the programs the coalition wants restored.
What the Alliance wants
The group outlined four requests for the 2027 legislative session:
- Public safety enhancement fund. The state would match 10 percent of each city's police and fire payroll to help with hiring and training.
- Housing investment. State sales-tax revenue would fund new housing construction, with a focus on growing metro areas.
- Revenue-sharing task force. A panel would evaluate restoring the Local Government Fund to its pre-2011 levels.
- Home rule commission. A body of state and local leaders would resolve disputes without litigation.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther pointed to a regional housing shortage at the Sept. 4 announcement.
"We really are facing a supply crisis with respect to housing in central Ohio," Ginther said. "I need 200,000 units over the next ten years throughout the region."
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb called the public safety fund the most vital proposal, saying he has hired more than 300 officers since taking office in 2022 but needs more state support. Kettering Mayor Brian Suddith said two decades of funding cuts have squeezed city budgets even as state mandates remain unchanged.
Local budget context
The Local Government Fund now distributes 1.75 percent of state General Revenue Fund collections to roughly 2,300 political subdivisions, according to the Ohio Municipal League. That share stood at 3.68 percent before state budget cuts enacted during the 2011 fiscal crisis.
About 70 percent of a typical Ohio municipality's general fund revenue comes from income taxes, the Municipal League reports. Any increase in state revenue sharing would ease pressure on that single source.
Gahanna is already working on its 2027 budget. The city's Finance Committee met Aug. 3 to align strategic priorities with spending plans, and Mayor Laurie Jadwin said the administration wanted council feedback before the budget process begins.
No bills have been introduced. The Alliance's proposals are aimed at the 2027 legislative session, and no Statehouse sponsors have been named.
