Youngstown spending to be available for online viewing by year's end

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County last week announced it was working to put its checkbook online, and now Youngstown officials say they’re planning to do the same for the city.

The financial information is expected to be online by the end of the year, said Mayor John A. McNally.

“We’re going to give people the ability to get into the numbers by providing access online,” he said. “It’s something we’re interested in, and we plan to have more serious discussions on it. It provides more transparency to government by making information more accessible.”

City officials recently met with OpenGov, an organization that worked with the Ohio Treasurer’s office to put OhioCheckbook.com online, McNally said. The website, launched Dec. 2, allows people to search and review more than $400 billion in checkbook-level state spending for the past seven years.

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel sent letters two weeks ago to 18,062 officials at 3,962 local government entities offering his office’s help in setting up their online financial information at no cost.

To date, there have been more than 158,000 searches on the state’s checkbook website, which puts all state spending information on the Internet.

Read more about the plan in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.