Grand Lake a natural for plan

CELINA - Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague believes that Grand Lake water quality improvement endeavors could be a good fit for his office's new pay-for-success funding model that calls for public-private partnerships.

Sprague's ResultsOhio program would essentially pay for projects that aim to ameliorate pressing social and public health challenges after organizers have proven to produce measurable results, the Republican treasurer said during a stop at the newspaper on Monday morning.

"It's a new financial tool that we're offering out of the treasurer's office. It's a link between the private sector and the state government on how to solve some of our most difficult problems," Sprague said. "Water quality in Grand Lake St. Marys would be an opportunity for this ResultsOhio program."  

Authorized through the state's 2020-2021 operating budget, ResultsOhio is a fund administered through the treasurer's office. Sprague would negotiate an outcomes-based contract with an applicant looking to take on an improvement project. The applicant must secure funding to pay for the project's upfront costs.

Once the project is completed, an independent evaluator would measure the results. If the project is deemed successful based upon standards agreed to by all involved before it launches, Sprague's office would transfer payment to the project's investors.

"If you're able to achieve results that's better than what the state is currently getting for some of our programs, we agree to buy back that pilot program," Sprague said.

Sprague said so many times in government, officials issue taxpayer-funded grants for projects but don't circle back afterward to determine whether they worked or not.

"The idea here is that taxpayer money is not on the line," Sprague insisted. "Instead, we're only paying for things that work. It also allows us to pay for local solutions instead of quarterbacking everything kind of one-size-fits-all out of Columbus."

Potential projects could include addiction recovery, infant mortality, long-term care, early childhood education preparedness, water quality, workforce training, criminal justice and foster care, according to Sprague.

"For instance, Grand Lake St. Marys, you probably need at least two or three years of data to see if the water quality has been improved so that might be a three-year pilot project that we would then pay for at the end if it proved to show results," he explained.

Sprague said the first project will get underway next year. It centers on helping inmates develop career skills while still in prison. No taxpayer dollars will be directed toward the program unless it is deemed a success.

A formal application process for ResultsOhio will be unveiled at a later date, likely in January, Sprague said.

"One of the strengths of Ohio is our strong philanthropic community," Sprague said. "So there's capital out there that wants to work on these hard-to-solve problems."