OhioCheckBook.com adds first two universities

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COLUMBUS — Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, Inter-University Council President Bruce Johnson, Bowling Green State University President Mary Ellen Mazey and Central State University Vice President of Administration and Finance & CFO Curtis Pettis announced today the launch of Bowling Green State University and Central State University’s online checkbooks on OhioCheckbook.com. Also announced today is the launch of the Central Ohio Technical College’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.

Bowling Green and Central State are the first public universities in the state to post their spending on OhioCheckbook.com. Central Ohio Technical College is the first public technical college in Ohio to post their spending on OhioCheckbook.com.

In May 2016, Miami University, Ohio University and Wright State University also formally agreed to partner with the Treasurer’s office to post their checkbook level expenditures online at OhioCheckbook.com.

The following is a breakdown of today’s local government sites:

“I believe the taxpayers of Ohio have a right to know how their tax money is being spent, and I applaud these Universities for partnering with my office to post the finances on OhioCheckbook.com,” said Mandel. “My vision is to create an army of citizen watchdogs who are empowered to hold public officials accountable.”

“Public Universities in Ohio support open access to public information for Ohio’s taxpayers,” said Bruce Johnson, President of the Inter-University Council. “We are pleased that Bowling Green, Central State and several other universities are making progress at getting their data online. We also commend Treasurer Mandel for his efforts to make the financial information as transparent as possible.”

On April 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.

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.

Staff report

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