South Zanesville joins list of governments putting expenditures online

SOUTH ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The State of Ohio Treasure’s Office is pushing every Ohio government to put a list of their expenditures online. Tuesday, the village of South Zanesville became one of those governments.

Of the almost 4,000 governments in Ohio, including cities, villages, and school districts, 760 have put their expenditures on ohiocheckbook.com. The website documents anything and everything bought by a local government with tax money.

South Zanesville was added to the growing list Tuesday afternoon. Seth Unger, who is the senior policy advisor for Josh Mandel, the State Treasure, said the days of viewing public records in a filing cabinet are over.

“Our hope is that every mayor, every school board, every city councilman, every county commissioner, takes us up on the offer because the taxpayers pay their taxes,” said Unger. “They have a right to see where that money is going.”

Unger said some local governments have resisted putting their expenses online. However, he said this is a great way to hold elected official accountable.

“We have seen some instances where they started off being resistant,” said Unger. “Then when the tax payers say ‘Wait a second, that’s our money. That’s not your money.’ They have decided to come around and join the cause. [Tax payers] can see everything from $2 for spending at Staples, to $300 for gas for the police department at Speedway, to thousands of dollars for road construction.”

To take a look at South Zanesville’s finances you can visit www.ohiocheckbook.com.