GREENVILLE — On Thursday, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel stood with leaders representing Ohio cities, schools, townships and other entities and announced the launch of 114 local government spending sites on OhioCheckbook.com.
Last year, Mandel launched OhioCheckbook.com, which sets a new national standard for government transparency and for the first time in Ohio history puts all state spending information on the internet. OhioCheckbook.com recently earned Ohio the number one ranking in the country for government transparency.
Mandel was joined at today’s announcement by local government leaders from across Ohio who have partnered with the Treasurer’s office to post their spending information online. The Greenville City School District is among the first wave of local entities to launch its checkbooks live on OhioCheckbook.com.
These local government and school district checkbook sites include more than 6 million individual checks that equate to more than $14.2 billion worth of total spending.
“I believe the people of Ohio have a right to know how their tax money is being spent at the state and local level,” said Treasurer Mandel. “By partnering and posting local government checkbooks on OhioCheckbook.com, taxpayers across Ohio are empowered with a powerful tool to hold public officials accountable within their communities.”
“OhioCheckbook.com is the most important transparency initiative in Ohio since the public records act,” Ohio Auditor Dave Yost said. “Today’s announcement is putting the meat on the bones.”
“I believe increased transparency in government promotes accountability and efficiency, and helps build and maintain the public’s trust in our work,” stated State Rep. Kevin Boyce. “This new online resource will help show citizens across the state that their local municipalities are using their taxpayer dollars in a way that matches their goals and priorities.”
On April 7, Treasurer Mandel sent a letter to 18,062 local government and school officials representing 3,962 local governments throughout the state calling on them to place their checkbook level data on OhioCheckbook.com and extending an invitation to partner with his office at no cost to local governments. These local governments include cities, counties, townships, schools, library districts and other special districts.
A large coalition of statewide and local government organizations have expressed support for OhioCheckbook.com and local government transparency, including the Ohio Municipal League; Ohio Township Association; Ohio Association of School Business Officials; Buckeye Association of School Administrators; County Commissioner Association of Ohio; County Auditor Association of Ohio; Ohio Newspaper Association; Ohio Society of CPAs; the Buckeye Institute; and Common Cause Ohio.
OhioCheckbook.com was first launched on December 2, 2014, marking the first time in Ohio history when citizens could actually 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 September 23 there have been more than 325,500 total searches on the site.
For more information or to view your local government website, visit the Local Government option on OhioCheckbook.com or view GreenvilleSchools.OhioCheckbook.com.
