The last time we weighed in on Ohio University’s decision to provide $250,000 in funding for a new fire truck we focused some of our criticism on the uncertainty as to where the money would come from.
We repeated the previously reported statement that OU would choose from where to pull the money on a year-to-year basis. We called on the university to provide further transparency and give the tuition-paying students and tax-paying Ohio residents a specific breakdown of where the money would come from.
However, university officials did supply a Post reporter with the details of where the money was coming from the evening prior to the publication of last Tuesday’s editorial. The full details of that information remained unknown to our editorial board until it’s publication in yesterday’s paper — which revealed that OU will use real-estate revenue from land it owns on East State Street to cover the payments.
OU administrators deserve credit for avoiding student fee increases to cover the cost of the fire truck — which is how some Athens City Council members thought the university should come up with the money. OU students pay enough in tuition and fees as it is and lumping an additional “fire truck tax” would have been out of line.
However, despite the fact that OU has avoided charging students more in order to finance its payments for the new ladder truck, that solution fails to sway this board from the crux of our original stance — the ladder truck remains the fiscal responsibility of the city, not OU.
Though this money is not coming from student wallets, it is being siphoned from a pot otherwise used for campus maintenance and other expenses. As The Post reported earlier this year, OU has currently stockpiled $355 million worth of deffered maintenance on campus buildings. If the school continues to put off facility upkeep, that number could cause some building shutdowns and emergency repairs by 2020. At the same time, OU is bracing to begin a $500 million South Green dormitory renovation plan.
While helping fund this fire truck is a chivalrous gesture, the fact remains that OU would be better served to use the little money we have in our cofferes for its own expenses.
Some have argued that OU owes it to the city to pay for this fire truck. Afterall, students cost the city tons of money because of wild partying meanwhile Athens loses out on tons of property tax revenue because of university buildings.
But when all is said and done, it’s absurd to argue the city does anything but benefit immensely economically from the university’s presence. Without the university, there is no way all 258 OU employees currently making six-figures would be working in Athens, and therefore paying city property taxes — which is one of the city’s largest revenue streams. Meanwhile it’s doubtful Athens’ permanent population could support the 23 Uptown bars, dozens of restaurants and various other locally owned businesses who thrive off student customers.
OU and Athens must work together for the common good, but, at the end of the day, Athens is solely responsible for providing fire safety for all it’s residents — including those who live in dormitories.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
