Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel announced Wednesday the launch of Paint Township’s online checkbook on OhioCheckbook.com.
In December 2014, 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 government transparency ranking in the country for the second year in a row, according to a press release from the state treasurer’s office.
Paint Township is at least the fourth government entity in Highland County to participate in the program. In 2015, Hillsboro city Auditor Gary Lewis announced the city of Hillsboro’s participation, and the village of Leesburg and Madison Township signed on in 2016.
Paint Township’s online checkbook includes over 1,200 individual transactions that represent more than $1.1 million of total spending over the past three years.
“I believe the people of Highland 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 Mandel. “By posting local government spending online, we are empowering taxpayers across Ohio to hold public officials accountable.”
“On behalf of the Paint Township Board of Trustees, we are excited about offering the openness of the Ohio Checkbook initiative to our constituents,” said Fiscal Officer Joshua Matthews. “The transparency that the online checkbook offers to our friends, neighbors, and all those within our township, will hopefully build better relationships and improve understanding of the handling of payments in ‘their’ local government. It is always our goal to better serve the public that has chosen us to be their voice in these capacities and we look forward to a bright future in conjunction with the Ohio State Treasurer’s office in promoting this new realm of clarity and ease of information for all to benefit from.”
On April 7, 2015, 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.
For more information or to view a local government website, visit the Local Government option on OhioCheckbook.com.
