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Ohio's Bureau of Workers Compensation Could Be Saving Money, According to Auditor

Photo of Dave Yost
ANDY CHOW
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
Spaces leased by the BWC go for far less than other properties in downtown Columbus.

Ohio’s auditor is suggesting a way for the Bureau of Workers Compensation to save money. As Statehouse correspondent Jo Ingles explains, the report suggests the agency raise its rent in a key building.

The BWC headquarters is in a big building in downtown Columbus, within a 5-minute walk of the Statehouse. Some space in the building is leased to five other state agencies and commissions, at a cost of  about $4-per-square foot. That's less than the average market rate at other properties in downtown Columbus.

Auditor Dave Yost says if the BWC would raise its rent to the average going price, the bureau could get almost $1 million  more per year. And Yost says if the agency would downsize the space for its employees a bit, the bureau could save another $700,000 a year.

Ohio agencies have been warned by Gov. John Kasich that they will have to rein in spending due to a tight state budget, but there’s no word yet on whether the bureau will implement the suggestions in this report.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.