Clermont County to make its financial data available on OhioCheckbook.com

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Accounting conceptBATAVIA, Ohio (June 17, 2015) – Financial data from Clermont County will appear later this year on the State Treasurer’s OhioCheckbook.com site. On June 15, Clermont County Commissioners approved the transfer of the data to the Treasurer.

OhioCheckbook.com was launched by Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel in December 2014 to give citizens complete access to the state’s financials, which citizens can search, download, compare and analyze. Now, counties, cities and other jurisdictions across the state are piggybacking on OhioCheckbook.com, and will use the software to post their own revenue and spending information in a similar format. Clermont is the eighth Ohio county to partner with the Treasurer.

Clermont County Commissioners praised this commitment to transparency. “While our financial information has always been available to citizens, the OhioCheckbook.com website will make accessing that information much easier,” said BCC President Ed Humphrey. “This is the right thing to do.”

“It is a great idea,” said Commissioner Bob Proud. “I am pleased that we are taking this step; citizens and taxpayers should be able to find this information without jumping through a lot of hoops.”

Added Commissioner David Uible, “We are proud to be partnering with OhioCheckbook.com to make this information available and usable to our citizens.”

“I believe the people of Clermont County have a right to know how their tax money is being spent and I applaud local leaders here for partnering with the Treasurer’s office to post their finances on OhioCheckbook.com,” said Treasurer Mandel.  “My vision is to create an army of citizen watchdogs who are empowered to hold public officials accountable.”

Mandel has been praised by advocates for OhioCheckbook.com, including the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which moved Ohio to the top of its list in a ranking of states’ “transparency” websites, judged by easy access to financial information.

Once Clermont County’s information is on OhioCheckbook.com – with the url clermontcounty.ohiocheckbook.com — a link will also be posted on the county’s website, www.clermontcountyohio.gov.

OhioCheckbook.com is built on a platform developed by OpenGov, a company created in 2012 to help governments share financial data.