About Civic Worth
Civic Worth is a Columbus, Ohio platform that joins federal civic data — Census, EPA, USDOT — to county and city parcel registries. The platform answers a single question: what does this address actually mean?
Who represents it. What its zoning permits. What transit serves it. What's been reported to 311. Whether a Phase 1 or Phase 2 Zone In rezoning changed anything. Whether the parcel sits inside a historic district, a flood zone, a TIF district, or an EPA EJScreen polygon. All joined to the parcel polygon, not the ZIP code or the council-district centroid.
The free preview returns a Civic Address Card in under a second. The $29 Zone In Decoder shows a side-by-side of old and new zoning rules. The $9.99 Citizen tier delivers weekly watchlist alerts. Verified Ohio newsrooms and 501(c)(3) organizations get every paid tier free.
Who built it
Tim Fulton is the founder and the host of the Confluence Cast podcast, covering Columbus civic affairs since 2014. The platform grew out of the recurring podcast pattern of guests referencing public records that no one in the audience could find. Civic Worth closes that gap.
For press, interviews, or partnership inquiries: press@civicworth.com
Data sources
Civic Worth synthesizes ~50 public-records sources. Every report shows the originating source for every fact (the provenance schema is documented and non-negotiable). The major sources:
- Federal: Census ACS, TIGER, EPA EJScreen, CDC SVI, CEJST, FEMA NFHL, USDOT NTAD.
- County:Franklin County Auditor parcel registry + Auditor's GIS overlays.
- City: Columbus zoning, Title 33 ordinance text, 311 reports, council and BZA agendas, area- commission boundaries.
- Regional: MORPC and Smart Columbus when available.
What we don't do
Civic Worth does not surface owner names on the free tier. The platform does not predict property values, opine on neighborhood quality, or characterize residents. The synthesis is descriptive and citation-ready — it tells you what the public record contains, not what to do with it.
See the privacy policy and the terms of service for the formal stance.