State officials are readying a campaign to get voter approval for $200 million of general obligation bonds for park improvements.
Paolo De Maria, assistant director of Ohio's Office of Budget and Management, said last week that a committee has been formed to promote passage of the bonds.
In late June, the state legislature passed a resolution placing the referendum on the Nov. 2 ballot.
If passed, De Maria said up to $50 million of bonds could be issued annually, with no more than $200 million of bonds outstanding at any time. He said enabling legislation would be drawn up to specify which department of the state government would issue the bonds.
Gov. George Voinovich, along with Senate President Stanley Aronoff, R-Cincinnati, and House Speaker Vern Riffe, D-Portsmouth, proposed the bond issue in May as a way to modernize Ohio's parks and recreation system.
