Redbook LBO Analysis of Executive Budget Proposal — Ohio Ethics Commission (February 2025)
Summary
A Redbook LBO Analysis of Executive Budget Proposal for the Ohio Ethics Commission, by Jessica Murphy, Senior Budget Analyst, dated February 2025. The quick look says the Commission administers, interprets, and enforces ethical conduct, with jurisdiction over all state and local government officials and employees, except legislators, judges, and their staffs. It reports a biennial recommendation of $6.4 million, with $3.1 million in FY 2026 and $3.3 million in FY 2027. It lists the sources of the budget as GRF (79.4%) and state non-GRF (20.6%).
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“Redbook LBO Analysis of Executive Budget Proposal — Ohio Ethics Commission (February 2025).”
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Redbook
LBO Analysis of Executive Budget Proposal
Ohio Ethics Commission
Jessica Murphy, Senior Budget Analyst
February 2025
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Quick look... .......................................................................................................................... 1
Agency overview ................................................................................................................... 1
Analysis of FY 2026-FY 2027 budget proposal ......................................................................... 2
Executive recommendations by expense category ........................................................................ 2
Executive recommendations by fund group ................................................................................... 3
Filing fees ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Ohio Ethics Commission Fund (DPF Fund 4M60) ........................................................................... 4
LBO Redbook
Ohio Ethics Commission
Quick look...
➢ The Ohio Ethics Commission administers, interprets, and enforces ethical conduct, with
jurisdiction over all state and local government officials and employees, except legislators,
judges, and their staffs. Approximately 18,700 elected officials and 590,000 public employees fall
under its authority.
➢ Biennial recommendation of $6.4 million: $3.1 million in FY 2026 and $3.3 million in FY 2027.
➢ GRF increase of 7.6% in FY 2026 and 4.9% in FY 2027 will enable the Commission to maintain
current staffing level of 19 full-time employees.
➢ Sources of the budget: GRF (79.4%) and state non-GRF (20.6%).
FY 2022 FY 2023 FY 2024 FY 2025 FY 2026 FY 2027
Actual Actual Actual Estimate Introduced Introduced
GRF ALI 146321, Operating Expenses
$1,733,095 $2,141,748 $2,295,557 $2,305,000 $2,480,744 $2,603,142
% change 23.6% 7.2% 0.4% 7.6% 4.9%
DPF Fund 4M60 ALI 146601, Operating Support
$580,648 $378,850 $462,185 $515,100 $649,781 $670,793
% change -34.8% 22.0% 11.4% 26.1% 3.2%
Total funding:
$2,313,743 $2,520,597 $2,757,742 $2,820,100 $3,130,525 $3,273,935
% change 8.9% 9.4% 2.3% 11.0% 4.6%
Agency overview
The Ohio Ethics Commission administers, interprets, and enforces ethical conduct in state
and local government, primarily under the Ohio Ethics Law (R.C. Chapter 102). It has jurisdiction
over all state and local government officials and employees, except legislators, judges, and their
staffs. The Commission consists of six members who are appointed by the Governor with the
advice and consent of the Senate. The political affiliation of the Commission is equally divided
between the two major parties. Members are compensated $75 for each meeting, up to a
maximum of $1,800 per year. Day-to-day operations are handled by the Executive Director and
19 full-time employees (current staffing level).
The Ethics Law requires an average of 10,320 public officials, high-ranking public
employees, and candidates for public office from more than 1,300 public agencies to file financial
disclosure statements with the Commission each year. Nearly 2,500 of the statements filed by
public officials and employees are confidential by statute and are individually audited by staff.
Legislative Budget Office of the Legislative Service Commission Page 1
Redbook Ohio Ethics Commission
The Commission’s duties are largely divided into four program areas: Advisory,
Investigations, Education, and Financial Disclosure. In CY 2023 these sections combined
accomplished the following:
▪ The Commission’s staff attorneys, under the Advisory program, issued 163 written
advisory opinions and provided immediate guidance in response to thousands of emails
and over 1,500 telephone calls. Over two-thirds of these requests were from officials in
local government (including counties, cities, townships, villages, and school districts).
▪ The Commission received 523 investigative inquiries and acted on 168 investigations.
▪ The Commission conducted 167 in-person public educational sessions reaching nearly
15,000 people, including state, county, and city agencies, public sector associations, and
groups of public and private sector organizations.
▪ Roughly 33,000 public officials and employees from state and local government
completed an online ethics course and 5,000 participated in one of the Commission’s
webinars.
Analysis of FY 2026-FY 2027 budget proposal
Executive recommendations by expense category
Chart 1 below displays the $6.4 million proposed budget for the biennium in terms of the
manner in which this funding is allocated for operating expenses. These allocations may change
over the course of the biennium, but historically, these percentages have remained relatively
consistent from year to year. The largest category of expense is personal services (92.3%, or
$5.9 million), followed by supplies and maintenance (6.6%, or $421,553). Other expenses
including equipment, purchased personal services, and transfers/nonexpense account for 1.1%,
or $71,412.
Chart 1: Ethics Budget by Expense Category
FY 2026-FY 2027 Biennium
Personal
Services Biennial total:
92.3% $6.4 million Supplies and
Maintenance
6.6%
Other
1.1%
Legislative Budget Office of the Legislative Service Commission Page 2
Redbook Ohio Ethics Commission
Executive recommendations by fund group
Together, GRF line item 146321 and Dedicated Purpose Fund (DPF) Fund 4M60 line
item 146601 support the Ohio Ethics Commission’s operations. Chart 2 below shows the
GRF/non-GRF funding split for these costs. The executive recommended GRF appropriation in
FY 2026 represents a 7.6%, or $175,744, increase from the estimated GRF expenditures in
FY 2025 ($2,305,000). The Commission strives to use GRF funding to cover the 88% of personal
service expenses (payroll) and DPF Fund 4M60 line item 146601 to support the majority of other
operating expenses.
Chart 2: Ethics Operating Expense by Fund Group
$3,500,000
$3,000,000 20%
21%
$2,500,000 17% 18%
15%
$2,000,000 25%
$1,500,000
82% 79% 80%
$1,000,000 85% 83%
75%
$500,000
$0
FY 2022 FY 2023 FY 2024 FY 2025 FY 2026 FY 2027
GRF Non-GRF
Filing fees
The table below summarizes the Commission’s current fee schedule. That schedule was
implemented beginning in CY 2012 for sustaining dedicated purpose funding to supplement and
reduce reliance on GRF funding. As noted, the GRF is the largest source of the Commission’s
budget. Filing fee revenue is credited to the Ohio Ethics Commission Fund (Fund 4M60). In
addition to filing fees, revenue also comes from investigative or other fees, costs, or other funds
the Commission receives as a result of court orders and other settlement money.
Since the implementation of the fee schedule, fee revenue has declined due to a decrease
in filers as a result of the consolidation of certain boards and commissions and fewer voluntary
filers, as well as late fees. The decrease in late fee revenue is a result of the ease of filing in the
online financial disclosure filing system (implemented February 2013), which also enabled the
Commission to quickly notify delinquent filers so that they do not accrue the maximum late fees.
Currently, over 96% of financial disclosure statements are filed using the online filing portal. The
number of persons failing to file timely statements remained below 0.5% of the total number of
filers. As such, the Commission assumes that late filing fees will not be a significant source of
revenue for the FY 2026-FY 2027 biennium.
Legislative Budget Office of the Legislative Service Commission Page 3
Redbook Ohio Ethics Commission
License Fees by Type
License Type Fee
State elected office holder or candidate $95
State board of education member or candidate $35
County elected office holder or candidate $60
City elected office holder or candidate $35
School district board of education member or $30
candidate
Educational Service Center (ESC) governing $30
board member
School district or ESC superintendent, treasurer, $30
or business manager
All other filers $60
Late Fee Penalty
Per day $10/day
Maximum penalty $250
Ohio Ethics Commission Fund (DPF Fund 4M60)
Chart 3 below shows Fund 4M60’s activity beginning FY 2012 (around the time the current
fee schedule and online filing system were implemented) through FY 2025. Notably, in FY 2016,
expenditures started to exceed revenues which resulted in a more or less steady decrease in the
fund’s year-ending cash balance. In response to the cash balance trending down, generally the
Commission has had to increase reliance of GRF. The Commission aims at keeping its DPF cash
balance no lower than 50% of its expected expenditures, or between $350,000 and $400,000. At
the end of FY 2025, Fund 4M60 is projected by the Ethics Commission to have a net balance of
approximately $550,000.
Chart 3: Fund 4M60 Activity, FY 2012-FY 2025
$900,000
$800,000
$700,000
$600,000
$500,000
$400,000
$300,000
$200,000
$100,000
$0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Revenue Expenditures Cash balance
ETH/zg
Legislative Budget Office of the Legislative Service Commission Page 4
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