Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel announced today the launch of the Village of Bellville’s 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 government transparency ranking in the country for the third year in a row.
The Village of Bellville is the second village in Richland County to post their spending on OhioCheckbook.com. The Village of Bellville’s online checkbook includes over 24,000 individual transactions that represent more than $12 million of total spending between 2013 and 2017.
“I believe the people of Richland 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 Village of Bellville is honored to join the checkbook initiative offered by the Treasurer’s office, so our citizens can understand more clearly how their tax money is being spent,” said Brigette Gatton, Fiscal Officer, Village of Bellville.
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.