This week, Ohioans got two new and important tools to help them in their efforts to track and save their tax dollars. The Buckeye Institute, Ohio's premier free-market think tank, announced that it has decloped tax calculator and is beginning to provide local government salaries in its public employee salary database.
According to Buckeye, "Ohioans can now enter 19 pieces of data into the Tax Calculator to get their estimated total government tax and fee burdens." This will allow residents of cities and towns across the state to determine how much they pay in taxes and how they compare to others. Additionally, the Tax Calculator can show Ohioans how long they have to work to pay their total government tax and fee liability. What's interesting is that the tool will also provide information on what government functions are funded by federal, state, city, and property taxes, and notes the taxes and fees that are not currently calculated using the Tax Calculator.
Buckeye has also released its Local Salary data tool that, at one point, will contain the salary and estimated pension data for local government employees across Ohio. The first local government in the database is the city of Eastlake. According to Buckeye's analysis of the data, "the average salary for Eastlake city workers, police officers, and fire fighters is $55,436.09. Once benefits are included, the average compensation package for Eastlake employees is $77,865.99. The total yearly cost for the 124 full-time workers is just under $10,000,000. Based on these salary figures, the yearly pension for an Eastlake employee is estimated to be roughly $36,000 per year and over $800,000 for an 18-year retirement. In comparison, according to the most recent labor market data, the average yearly wage in Lake County for private sector workers is only $39,771."
What this information will do is allow taxpayers to determine how much Ohioans owe and where the money is going. By providing such information, taxpayers will be able to demand more accountability and responsibility in their government, especially at the state and local levels. One of the problems with state and local governments is that they often lack transparency, which makes program and decision evalution difficult, to say the least.
We look forward to seeing what Buckeye does next.