COLUMBUS – Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague announced that OhioCheckbook.gov now features 2019 salary data from three of Ohio’s five public pension systems.

The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol Retirement System all recently committed to bolstering transparency by taking advantage of the revamped online platform.

“OhioCheckbook.gov is the one-stop source for both state and local spending, and today’s announcement creates a more robust portrait of spending and salaries,” Sprague said. “As part of our ongoing efforts to achieve full transparency about our public pension systems, we’re proud to partner with OPERS, SERS, and HPRS to provide this information to current public employees, pensioners, and taxpayers alike.”

Expenditure information from the pension systems has long been available on the Ohio Checkbook. However, until now, OPERS was the only pension system to have salary information displayed on the website. As a result of today’s announcement, SERS and HPRS have joined OPERS in making both salary and expenditure details available.

“SERS has always been transparent with its expenditures, and our participation in the Ohio Checkbook since 2015 is further proof of that commitment,” said Richard Stensrud, executive director of the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio. “Given the recent re-launch of the new OhioCheckbook.gov, we saw this as a great opportunity to take our commitment to transparency a step further by making salary data available on the website.”

OhioCheckbook.gov was launched in June 2020. The revamped transparency website combines OhioCheckbook.com (previously administered by the treasurer’s office) and Ohio’s Interactive Budget (previously operated by the Office of Budget and Management) to create a single, one-stop resource for taxpayers to learn more about spending at the state and local levels of government.

OhioCheckbook.gov now features real-time state revenue and expenditure data, as well as expenditure information from participating local governments.

By streamlining website administration, eliminating duplication, and reducing overall operating costs, OhioCheckbook.gov will keep government transparency at taxpayers’ fingertips for years to come.

“While today’s announcement brings us closer to providing taxpayers with a complete picture of Ohio’s public pension systems, some missing pieces remain” added Treasurer Sprague. “However, my office is committed to forging similar partnerships with the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund and the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, so that they, too, can take advantage of the benefits and transparency OhioCheckbook.gov can offer.”