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Some of Ohio County’s 88 treasurers are complying with state law by failing to report their investment balances earned in public tax cash and for the Ohio treasurer.
That means citizens will be able to see how their taxes are reversed or how their county’s effects compare to those of others that would be left out.
A review conducted through The Dispatch Sunshine Week on Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague’s online portal shows that several Central Ohio treasurers are breaking state law. One treasurer said he was not aware of the law. And an expert on the First Amendment and media law believes the law deserves to be enforced.
The documents are intended to provide monthly updates on the county’s investment portfolios that could include Treasury bills, bonds, municipal notes, bank certificates of deposit, and, the most popular tool, high-quality, short-term Ohio State Treasury Asset Reserve accounts. -Term securities. with liquidity and without penalty.
And the way public money is invested in those tools varies significantly from country to country.
Since 2011, the Ohio Treasurer’s Office has been required by law to compile monthly reports, and its online page says “we pride ourselves on being trusted stewards of the state treasury, savvy investors in Ohio’s future, and ambitious innovators committed to a better life. “the Buckeye State. “”
But The Dispatch’s reports from several counties in Greater Columbus indicate, at best, sporadic compliance.
Fairfield County has seen monthly entries for the past three years, but they stop in September. Delaware County ends in July. Franklin, Licking, and Union counties do not have the same period.
Roy Van Atta, Licking County’s first-term treasurer, who in the past served as the county’s assistant auditor since 2012, was unaware of the law requiring Ohio counties to provide a copy of their county’s monthly investment advisory committee reports to the Ohio Treasurer’s office.
Although he has participated in many seminars and educational sessions, he said, “It’s nothing that has been addressed. There are so many little reports that we have to do. “
Week of the Sun, which coincides in mid-March each year with President James Madison’s birthday, is a national showcase of the importance of public records and open government.
And advocates say gaps like the ones in Ohio, especially with equipment meant for publicity and transparency, are troubling.
“It goes against what seems to be the intent — to make data widely available,” said attorney Jack Greiner, who specializes in media and First Amendment law and represents The Dispatch and other news outlets.
Brittany Halpin, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Treasurer’s Office, said the quality of the reports, and even their existence, is the duty of the county treasurers who create and supply them.
“There is no law enforcement mechanism here,” he said.
A similar resource that sells transparency is the Ohio Checkbook, which was created in 2014 and has been updated several times since then. Lately it includes real-time state monetary and transactional knowledge and local government knowledge, such as workers’ wages. However, respect is voluntary.
However, the State is required to require investment reporting.
Greiner believes a legislator could simply replace that with the law.
“What you need to do is go to the state legislature and say, ‘Let’s do some kind of law enforcement. ‘”
Janie Harris, treasurer of her first term in Hocking County, said she submits her reports monthly, but none look like they’re for 2022 or the first two months of 2023. He said he finds the knowledge of law-abiding counties useful, though the reports are not standardized and vary widely from county to county.
“I’m just curious to see where other countries were investing and to what extent,” he said. “I know I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. “
County treasurers are not required to have wisdom or revel in financial matters, and many use professional investment brokers to manage their funds.
Others do it themselves.
Andrew Smarra, Union County’s treasurer, sees his job as that of “county banker” and “chief investment officer. “A former corporate controller for several multinational corporations, according to his website, he is also a certified public accountant and holds a bachelor’s degree in securities. His oversees an average portfolio of $65 million and recently earned about 4% in investment income.
However, his reports are also on the state’s website, he explained, due to technical glitches when downloading them.
“Every time we tried, he wasn’t satisfied with downloads,” she said. “Finally, we said, ‘Well, it’s not going to have to be vital to them (the state treasurer). So we stopped trying. ‘
“We have more important things to do than work with the state ticket when they obviously don’t care,” Smarra said.
dnarciso@dispatch. com
This article made the impression in The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio law requires counties to report that investments are not enforced.
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