Treasurer Josh Mandel Announces Launch of the Delaware Soil and Water Conservation District Checkbook on OhioCheckbook.com
Momentum Grows for Statewide Government Transparency with Over 540 Local Government and School Districts Partnering with OhioCheckbook.com
COLUMBUS – (RealEstateRama) — Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel announced today the launch of the Delaware Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) online checkbook on OhioCheckbook.com. In December 2014, Treasurer 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.
The Ohio Treasurer’s office announced the launch at the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (OFSWCD) 73rd Annual “Champions of Conservation” Partnership Meeting in Columbus. Joining today’s announcement were Delaware Soil and Water Conservation District Administrator Larry Ufferman and Board Members Sue Cunningham, Ted Colflesh and Steve Sheets and OFSWCD President Kris Swartz.
The Delaware Soil and Water Conservation District’s online checkbook includes over 2,000 individual transactions that represent more than $3 million of total spending over the past four years. The Delaware SWCD is the first Soil and Water Conservation District in the state to post their spending on OhioCheckbook.com.
“I believe the people of Delaware 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 Treasurer Mandel. “By posting local government spending online, we are empowering taxpayers across Ohio to hold public officials accountable.”
“The Delaware Soil and Water Conservation District is proud to be the first SWCD in the state to post our spending on OhioCheckbook.com,” said District Administrator Larry Ufferman. “By joining Delaware County in sharing this information in an accessible, online format, we are helping our residents see we are managing their tax dollars wisely and maintaining the public’s trust in our organization.”
On April 7, 2015 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:
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
Buckeye Institute
Common Cause Ohio
OhioCheckbook.com was 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 February 19, 2016 there have been more than 466,000 total searches on the site.
OhioCheckbook.com displays more than $506 billion in spending over the past eight years, including more than 137 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; and,
Capability to share charts or checks with social media networks, and direct contact for agency fiscal offices.
In March 2015, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) released their annual “Following the Money 2015” report and Treasurer Mandel earned Ohio the number one transparency ranking in the country for providing online access to government spending data. Ohio was prominently featured in the report after climbing from 46th to 1st in spending transparency as a result of Treasurer Mandel’s release of OhioCheckbook.com. Due to the launch of OhioCheckbook.com, Ohio received a perfect score of 100 points this year – the highest score in the history of the U.S. PIRG transparency rankings.
The Treasurer’s office is partnering with OpenGov, a leading Silicon Valley government technology company, to provide residents of Ohio the ability to view and search local government expenditures in a user-friendly, digital format. “Ohio is setting the standard for financial transparency on an unprecedented scale. We are excited to partner with the Treasurer’s office to bring world-class technology to communities large and small across the state,” said Zachary Bookman, CEO of OpenGov.
For more information or to view your local government website, visit the Local Government option on OhioCheckbook.com or click on DelawareSWCD.OhioCheckbook.com.
