Communities opt for fiscal transparency
DAVE MOSIER/independent editor
Local government officials were on hand Thursday to announce the launch of financial transparency websites for the City of Van Wert and the villages of Willshire and Wren.
In addition to Andrew Coutts, public affairs liaison and project management officer for the Ohio Treasurer’s Office, on hand for the announcement were Van Wert Mayor Jerry Mazur, City Auditor Martha Balyeat, City Council President Pete Weir, and Third Ward Councilman Ken Markward, representing Van Wert; Wren Mayor Monica Davis and Village Fiscal Officer Jessica Heckler for Wren; and State Representative Craig Riedel.
Van Wert, Wren, and Willshire are the second, third, and fourth local governments in the county to post their spending on www.OhioCheckbook.com. The Village of Scott was the first county municipality to post its spending online.
The following is a breakdown of Thursday’s local government sites:
- Van Wert’s online checkbook includes over 31,000 individual transactions that represent more than $47 million in total spending over the past three years.
- Wren’s online checkbook includes over 2,300 individual transactions that represent more than $890,000 in total spending over the past five years.
- Willshire’s online checkbook includes over 5,700 individual transactions that represent more than $1.4 million in total spending over the past three years.
“I believe the people of Van Wert 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,” said Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel. “By posting local government spending online, we are empowering taxpayers across Ohio to hold public officials accountable.”
“The City of Van Wert is excited to join the OhioCheckbook.com initiative with other leaders in Van Wert County,” said Balyeat. “We believe using this software will help open lines of communication with our citizens.”
“The Village of Wren is proud to join the other leaders in transparency across Van Wert County,” Davis said. “We believe this tool is a powerful platform to help us be more financially responsible.”
“OhioCheckbook.com allows government the ability to be transparent to its citizens,” said Riedel. “I am proud the City of Van Wert, Village of Wren, and the Village of Willshire have chosen to join the countless other local governments who have shown transparency and accountability to all of Ohio’s taxpayers.”
In December 2014, Mandel launched the program, 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 No. 1 government transparency ranking in the country for the second year in a row.
Since its launch, the program has received overwhelming support from newspapers and groups across the state and, as of September 4, there have been more than 818,000 total searches on the site. OhioCheckbook.com displays more than $598 billion in spending over the past nine years, including more than 164 million transactions. The website includes cutting-edge features, such as:
- “Google-style” contextual search capabilities, to allow users to sort by keyword, department, category, or vendor.
- Fully dynamic interactive charts to drill down on state spending
- Functionality to compare state spending year-over-year or among agencies
- Capability to share charts or checks with social media networks, and direct contact for agency fiscal offices.
For more information or to view a local government website, visit the Local Government option on OhioCheckbook.com or click on:
POSTED: 09/08/17 at 7:41 am. FILED UNDER: News