Protecting Taxpayer Dollars
Our 10-Point Accountability Plan
Government should cost less, work better, and answer to the taxpayers who pay for it.
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Ohio families are facing rising property taxes, higher living costs, and government spending that keeps growing. Taxpayers deserve more than another audit report gathering dust on a shelf. They deserve real accountability, measurable savings, and results.
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As Ohio’s next Auditor of State, Frank LaRose will pursue a 10-point plan to modernize government oversight, harness new technology, expose fraud, and help make government more affordable.
01
MAKE GOVERNMENT MORE AFFORDABLE
Make Affordability Audits a new standard for government accountability. Expand performance audits and seek authority to require regular affordability reviews of major government operations. Examine spending growth against inflation, population changes, and household costs. Identify unnecessary bureaucracy, excessive administrative expenses, and opportunities to lower costs in state agencies, school districts, and local governments.Â
02
PUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING ONLINE
Build on Ohio’s existing transparency programs by developing standardized Public Spending Dashboards that show how state and local governments spend money. Let taxpayers compare spending, debt, contracts, staffing, and administrative expenses across communities. Work with state and local officials to standardize financial reporting and make the information understandable without an accounting degree.Â
03
USE AI TO HUNT DOWN FRAUD
Deploy artificial intelligence and advanced financial analytics to examine government transactions for duplicate payments, suspicious invoices, inflated contracts, unusual spending patterns, and potential fraud. Give trained auditors better tools to identify problems that traditional sampling methods might overlook, while requiring human verification before allegations or enforcement referrals.
04
REWARD CITIZENS WHO EXPOSE FRAUD
Work with the General Assembly to establish an Ohio Taxpayer Fraud Bounty Program. Provide carefully controlled financial rewards when credible information leads directly to the successful recovery of stolen public funds. Strengthen confidential reporting protections and establish safeguards against false or retaliatory accusations.
05
EXPOSE WASTEFUL PROGRAMS
Create an Ohio Government Efficiency Scorecard using a Financial Benchmarking Tool that compares similarly situated counties, municipalities, townships, and school districts. Measure administrative overhead, per-resident spending, staffing, purchasing, debt, and service delivery costs. Account for differences in community size, responsibilities, and economic conditions. Highlight efficient governments and identify opportunities for consolidation, shared services, and cost reduction.
06
CATCH FINANCIAL TROUBLE EARLY
Modernize Ohio’s existing fiscal caution, watch, and emergency systems with a Taxpayer Early Warning System. Use financial data to identify mounting debt, shrinking reserves, operating deficits, and unsustainable spending trends before they become crises. Provide earlier warnings and practical corrective recommendations to local officials and the public.
07
EXPAND THE JOINT AGENCY FRAUD TASK FORCE
Strengthen Ohio’s existing public fraud investigation partnerships by coordinating the Auditor’s Special Investigations Unit with the Attorney General, local prosecutors, law enforcement, and federal agencies. Improve intelligence sharing, forensic accounting, and coordinated investigations into embezzlement, contract fraud, payroll abuse, and public corruption.
08
CREATE AN AI & CYBER WATCHDOG
Establish a specialized team within the Auditor’s office to assess cybersecurity risks, investigate AI-enabled financial fraud, and evaluate safeguards protecting sensitive government information. Focus on vulnerabilities in public payment systems, vendor transactions, financial software, and government use of artificial intelligence. Provide actionable recommendations to smaller local governments and school districts that may lack specialized cybersecurity resources.
09
HOLD COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE FOR TAXPAYER SUBSIDIES
Strengthen independent oversight of Ohio’s economic development grants, tax incentives, and publicly subsidized business agreements. Examine whether taxpayer-funded programs produce the promised jobs, wages, investments, and economic benefits. Work with appropriate state agencies to improve performance reporting, identify broken promises, and enforce repayment provisions when companies fail to meet contractual obligations.
10
ESTABLISH A GOVERNMENT INNOVATION & EFFICIENCY CENTER
Create a modern training and technical assistance initiative that helps public officials adopt proven cost-saving practices, strengthen financial management, prevent fraud, and evaluate new technologies. Build on existing Auditor training programs and share successful innovations from Ohio’s most efficient communities. Help smaller governments access practical tools for cooperative purchasing, shared services, and better financial controls.