CHICAGO - Ohio has launched a new website aimed at giving investors access to all financial information about the state, including its debt, budget and economy.
The investor relations site is reached through the
State budget director Timothy Keen announced the new portal last Thursday.
The investor relations site provides an overview of most Ohio fiscal information, including disclosure documents, material event notices, rating reports, and all recent official statements, which include pricing information on bond sales.
It also lists the state's upcoming bond sale schedule. Much of the information was already up on the state's main OBM site, but scattered in different places, according to state debt manager Kurt Kauffman.
"It's something we've wanted to do for a little while, so we've moved everything that can be related to debt all into one place," he said. "It provides comprehensive access to timely information on the state, including our budget, our economy, and of course our debt and credit structures. We're hoping people can bookmark this landing page and they can get everything they need on it."
The site will be updated monthly and run by the debt section of the Budget and Management Office.
In designing the page, Kauffman said Ohio officials reviewed other states' investor relations sites.
"There's probably 10 or 12 states that have pretty good investor relations sites, including Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington and California," he said.
The site also features links to other debt-issuing state agencies and municipal bond resources.
Ohio is a frequent issuer, entering the market at least once every other month, often with bond issues that are under $200 million. It holds both negotiated and competitive sales.
Upcoming bond issuance includes a $50 million general obligation deal set for July or August that will be priced competitively.
The state treasurer plans to offer $165 million of GO bonds for highway capital improvement projects in September or October in a negotiated sale, as well as a November pricing of $150 million of new-money revenue bonds that will raise funds for major new state infrastructure projects.
