Ohio Fiscal Transparency Initiative Includes Hundreds of Local Governments

Route Fifty: PITTSBURGH — The state of Ohio has undertaken an ambitious program during the last two years to improve state and local government financial transparency, publishing easily searchable, checkbook-level information online about how taxpayer dollars are spent.

Although there have been obstacles along the way, public officials from Ohio say the program is growing and yielding benefits. Between 900 and 1,000 local governments in the state have committed to participate in it, and over 500 have made information available online, according to Seth Metcalf, deputy treasurer and executive counsel in the state treasurer’s office.

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