By Gongwer Staff
Posted: March 6, 2013 5:11 PM

Many Questions and No Answers in JobsOhio Financing Scheme

Over five million taxpayer dollars unaccounted for

COLUMBUS- Recent news reports have indicated that the state’s private economic development organization, JobsOhio, is the recipient of at least $5.3 million of public funds. JobsOhio was initially appropriated $1 million by the state legislature in 2011 to cover start-up costs associated with promoting economic development in the state. Now, it appears that the organization was able to siphon off at least five times that amount from state’s Development Services Agency (DSA). It remains unclear if DSA followed the appropriate legal procedures to contract with a JobsOhio subsidiary for economic development services. Neither the DSA nor JobsOhio have been able to provide any account of how the public funds were spent.

Upon learning of this complex arrangement to spend state dollars, State Representative John Patrick Carney (D-Columbus) asked State Auditor Dave Yost to audit the use of all state dollars involved in the complex financing scheme. Rep. Carney is also seeking public records disclosing the process the DSA used in appropriating the public funds to JobsOhio.

“The secretive nature surrounding the use of these tax dollars is extremely alarming,” said Rep. Carney. “I support the mission of JobsOhio, but they can’t just haphazardly prop up operations with public funds. It seems possible that, in this case, JobsOhio was acting more on their own whims rather than the rule of law. You can’t do whatever you want with the people’s tax dollars.”

The additional public resources for JobsOhio were provided through grants from the DSA to JobsOhio’s funding organization, the JobsOhio Beverage System. It is not immediately clear whether or not private corporate donations and tax dollars are somehow separated in the JobsOhio Beverage System. The $5.3 million discrepancy came to light after a self-imposed audit from the organization. A series of reports in the Columbus Dispatch highlighted the divergence of funding sources for JobsOhio. To date, the DSA and JobsOhio have not provided any explanation of the grants’ purpose or intended use.

“I have several questions with respect to the allocation of these resources, and I hope our State Auditor and the Development Services Agency are willing to help provide answers,” Rep. Carney continued. “It is concerning if these ‘grants’ were not competitively bid or made available to other entities around the state. The confusion surrounding these funds clearly demonstrates that the legislature and the Governor need to revisit disclosure requirements for JobsOhio to shine some light on how they are financed and what the money is being used for.”