Part of the Worthington Together Speaker Series on Economic Development held on October 27, 2025 | Worthington City Hall
As Worthington embarks on its first comprehensive plan update in nearly two decades, residents need to understand two fundamental realities: Central Ohio is experiencing explosive growth, and how that growth is managed has direct implications for city finances and services.
The Numbers Are Staggering
Matt McCollister, interim president of One Columbus, opened Monday's Economic Development Speaker Series with statistics that underscore both the challenge and opportunity ahead.
Past Performance:
- 80,000 jobs committed across 800+ projects in the past 15 years
- 90% of Ohio's population growth occurred in the Columbus region over the past decade
- Port Columbus experiencing record passenger numbers and more destinations than ever
Future Projections:
- 500,000 to 700,000 additional residents expected in the next 20-25 years
- New airport terminal expected by 2029-2030
- Continued major investments like Amgen's $900 million expansion adding 350 jobs
"We've had a heck of a 15-year run here," McCollister said, before pivoting to the challenge: "The economy is definitely shifting."
How Ohio Cities Actually Fund Services
Moderator Dave Collinsworth shared that Ohio cities are principally funded by income tax from wages, not property tax or sales tax.
"Income tax is really what drives the financial health and well-being of most cities in Ohio," Collinsworth explained. "It really elevates the importance of job creation in the city."
What does this mean practically? The wages earned by people working in Worthington—whether they live here or commute from elsewhere—generate the income tax revenue that funds police, fire, parks, streets, and all day-to-day city operations.
Property taxes, by contrast, go primarily to schools and the library—not city operations.
Stay connected to what's happening in Worthington, Ohio.
The Fiscal Impact of Different Land Uses
Through the panel discussion, a general fiscal hierarchy emerged:
Strongest Contributors:
- Manufacturing generates significant income tax from good-paying jobs while requiring relatively modest city services
- Office traditionally contributes strongly to the income tax base with moderate service needs
Approximately Break-Even:
- Mixed-Use combining residential, retail, and commercial tends to generate roughly enough revenue to cover services required
Net Cost to City:
- Retail generally requires more in services than it generates (lower wages, often part-time, significant infrastructure needs)
- Residential typically costs more to serve than it generates in direct city revenue
Why This Matters: It's Not "Anti-Residential"
Understanding fiscal impact doesn't mean residential development is bad. Communities need housing. Employers need housing for their workforce. Quality of life depends on strong residential neighborhoods.
But the fiscal reality explains several important things:
Why Tax Base Diversity Matters: A predominantly residential community faces long-term fiscal challenges without sufficient commercial and industrial components to generate income tax for services.
Why Worthington Focuses on Economic Development: When city staff prioritize attracting employers, they're working to fund the services residents expect.
Why Strategic Planning Is Critical: Because Worthington is substantially built out, redevelopment decisions carry outsized importance. Converting commercial sites to residential may make sense in specific contexts—but doing so repeatedly could undermine fiscal sustainability.
The TechFlex Opportunity
The regional economy has pivoted dramatically. As traditional office demand declined, One Columbus and its partners redirected efforts toward pharmaceutical companies, advanced manufacturing, and high-tech operations—what industry calls "TechFlex" space. "That would devastate any traditional pipeline," McCollister noted of the shift away from office projects. But the region adapted.
TechFlex represents modern, high-tech manufacturing—pharmaceutical operations, advanced materials, precision manufacturing. These aren't smokestack industries. They're clean, often climate-controlled facilities with skilled, well-compensated workers.
For Worthington, this shift demands strategic thinking. The community has traditional office and flex space, but the market for those uses has fundamentally changed. "You could work with some companies maybe to elevate the quality of product you have here," McCollister said, noting Worthington's existing flex and light industrial spaces could be repositioned.
These operations generate strong income tax revenue—exactly what communities need to fund quality services.
Stay connected to what's happening in Worthington, Ohio.
Worthington's Position: Built Out But Well Located
Joe Hayek, president and CEO of Worthington Enterprises, brought the discussion home. His company employs 320 people locally, with 75 both working for and living in Worthington.
Hayek highlighted Worthington's advantages: excellent schools, strategic location (15 minutes from airport, 15-20 minutes downtown), and strong community identity.
But because Worthington is substantially built out, future growth comes primarily through redevelopment—not greenfield expansion. Each redevelopment decision is more consequential.
"There's zero reason that the city of Worthington can't really decide how it wants to grow and how much it wants to grow," Hayek observed. The opportunities will be present regardless—the question is whether the community plans proactively.
Resources Available
McCollister noted resources Worthington can access for strategic redevelopment:
- State demolition dollars for clearing obsolete structures
- JobsOhio revitalization funding for redevelopment projects
- Ohio Site Inventory Program grants and loans
- One Columbus support navigating programs and connecting with developers
Strategic incentive programs typically show 2-3 year return on investment. "Every single incentive we do at the state level has an ROI calculator," McCollister explained. "They never go in the hole on an incentive offer."
The Path Forward
Understanding fiscal reality provides foundation for informed community conversations. It doesn't dictate specific answers, but it frames the right questions:
- How can Worthington maintain fiscal health while being a great place to live?
- What balance of land uses serves both sustainability and quality of life?
- Where might strategic redevelopment strengthen both character and the tax base?
As Hayek summarized: "Don't be afraid to think differently and to understand that the next 25 years will not just be a function of the last 25 years."
The comprehensive planning process offers structured opportunity to explore these questions together—before development proposals arrive, not in reaction to them.
Give your input and feedback on the Worthington Together Community Choices page! Please provide your input by December 19, 2025.