ANSONIA — Two more Darke County municipalities will endeavor to provide greater financial transparency for their taxpayers.
Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel announced Thursday the launch of the Village of Ansonia and the Township of Butler’s online checkbooks on OhioCheckbook.com.
The Village of Ansonia is the third village in Darke County — joining Gettysburg and North Star — to post its spending on OhioCheckbook.com. The Village of Ansonia’s online checkbook includes more than 4,000 individual transactions representing more than $9 million of total spending between 2014 and 2017.
Butler Township is the first township in Darke County to post its spending on OhioCheckbook.com. The Township of Butler’s online checkbook includes more than 2,000 individual transactions that represent more than $1 million of total spending between 2013 and 2017.
In June, the Arcanum Village Council voted to join OhioCheckbook.com and likely will have it set up soon, according to a village official. The City of Greenville was approached by representatives of the state but has not committed to it. As well, Greenville City Schools and the Franklin Monroe School District have their finances displayed through the program.
“I believe the people of Darke County have a right to know how their tax money is being spent, and I applaud local leaders here for partnering with my office to post the finances on OhioCheckbook.com,” Treasurer Mandel said. “By posting local government spending online, we are empowering taxpayers across Ohio to hold public officials accountable.”
“The Village of Ansonia prides itself in being accessible to all members of our community,” Ansonia Finance Director Julie Kimmel said. “Our participation in the OhioCheckbook.com program provides our citizens another avenue to access their local government.”
OhioCheckbook.com was first launched Dec. 2, 2014, marking the first time in Ohio history when citizens actually could see every expenditure in state government. Since its launch, OhioCheckbook.com has received overwhelming support from newspapers and groups across the state and, as of Wednesday, there have been more than 994,000 total searches on the site.
For more information, visit the “Local Government” option on OhioCheckbook.com or click on Ansonia.OhioCheckbook.com or ButlerTownshipDarke.OhioCheckbook.com for those respective municipalities.
