Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
To the Editor: Ohioans will be asked at the May 6 primary election, via Issue 2, to renew a popular state bond program which has been in place since the 1980s, that provides funds to local governments (counties, cities, villages, and townships) to pay for local infrastructure improvements including roads and bridges, wastewater and drinking water improvements, solid waste facilities and stormwater drains. It’s a common-sense program that with past renewals deserves our enthusiastic support.
The package (known as House Joint Resolution 8) seeks to extend a program that Ohio voters first approved in 1987 (with a 71 percent “yes” vote). Voters have since renewed the program by wide margins in 1995, 2005 and 2014. The reason Ohio voters must approve most state bond issues including Issue 2 is the Ohio Constitution since 1851 has forbidden the state to rack up more than $750,000 in debt without voters’ approval. It provides critical funding to local governments for fixing and maintaining vital local infrastructure without raising taxes.
Issue 2 empowers a community’s leaders to make local decisions about local needs, as opposed to those decisions being made in Columbus.
Communities in Lucas, Ottawa and Wood Counties have benefited from the SCIP, receiving approximately $231.8 million in grant funds and zero-interest loans for projects which have significantly improved the quality of life.
As it has been for almost 40 years, State Issue 2 is smart policy for Ohio communities, for their taxpayers, and for local officials striving to address needs for facilities that boost communities’ safety, health, traffic-flow and sanitation.
Issue 2, like its predecessors, renews a highly successful, widely popular, pro-community program – without raising taxes. I urge Ohioans to vote “yes” on Issue 2.
Mike Pniewski, P.E., P.S.
Lucas County Engineer
