COLUMBUS,Ohio -
Ohio state and local government entities required by the Ohio Revised Code to publish public notices multiple times in a newspaper are able to reduce their costs by using the State Public Notice website, found atPublicNotice.Ohio.gov. The public will be able to search for and browse public notices for free, and there is no charge for state and local governments to post notices to the site.
"The site has the potential to pull together bid notices from more than 3,900 local governments and schools, making searches simpler for businesses pursuing government contracts which should increase the number of bidders for projects, further increasing savings for taxpayers," said Randy Cole, president of the state's controlling board, which handles certain adjustments needed to the state budget.
"It's exciting to see this new tool that both presents immediate cost savings for schools and local governments and better services for the public and businesses," Cole said.
The site was created by the Ohio Department of Administrative Services' Office of Information Technology as a result of the most recent state budget bill. New Ohio Revised Code section 7.16 allows a state agency or political subdivision, after initially publishing the notice in full in a general circulation newspaper, to subsequently publish an "abbreviated" notice in the newspaper if the notice directs the public to the full notice on the state public notice website.
"We are happy to provide a new service that leverages state resources and provides a benefit to all levels of government in Ohio and ultimately, the taxpayers," said Robert Blair, director of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services.
To post public notices, government users will need to create an account with the Ohio Business Gateway atohiobusinessgateway.ohio.gov.
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