Editor's note: This is the first of a weeklong series of stories detailing the connections between Ohio University and Athens as a snapshot of the student-resident relationship.
Since the land was first set aside for the creation of an institution of higher learning more than 200 years ago, Ohio University and the city of Athens have developed a history so intertwined that some people have difficulty picturing one without the other.
In the early days of the origin of Ohio University and the city of Athens
we were joined at the hip OU President Roderick McDavis said. The significance of that is that both of us grow and develop dependent on the other.
One of the most obvious indicators of that interdependence is the financial relationship between the school and the city. In 2004, the city of Athens and Athens Township - land not within the city limits - lost an estimated $9,575,825 in property taxes from university properties that are exempt from those taxes, according to records from the Athens County auditor.
The city would receive a percentage of those taxes to cover some city costs if OU was a normal, non-exempted business, city auditor Kathy Hecht said.
Instead, the city receives about $45,000 in state grants from an impacted cities fund which is used to pay for the costs of police and fire services and other services that the university uses but does not pay for, she said.
Last spring, OU gave the city a one-time gift of $44,000 with a specific request that the funds be used to help cover the costs of emergency services, McDavis said. In the past, the university and the city have combined to fund other projects of mutual benefit, such as repairs to Uptown streets and sidewalks.
Additionally, three City Council members also are university employees. Councilwoman Nancy Bain, D-3rd Ward, a geography professor, said that gives her a unique perspective because she can see both sides of problems involving the city and the university.
The presence of OU also creates a cycle of development for the city, Mayor Ric Abel said. The university influences the economy of the area as the largest employer in the city and in the county, and by drawing more businesses to the area. The increase of business, in turn, boosts the local economy and provides incentive for better transportation systems to serve students and residents. And as transportation routes improve, more people come to Athens as students, consumers, tourists, employees or new permanent residents, he said.
An increasing population in the area is part of the motivation for the city to cooperate on solving a current concern - the lack of housing. McDavis said he wants to develop more dormitories or apartment-style housing for students in an effort to free up residential properties that students now rent so that people interested in moving to the area can find reasonable residential housing.
Overall, many city and university officials, including McDavis and Abel, conclude the same thing about the future of the two entities.
You can't separate us
because one without the other is a death blow
McDavis said. You either love it or you don't in Athens. It's winner-take-all. And I love it. It's a great place to live.
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Kantele Franko
