Report outlines system upgrades, consumer protections, and community engagement initiatives
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Franklin County Auditor’s Office has released its 2025 Annual Report, outlining a year marked by system modernization, expanded consumer protection work, and increased outreach to residents across Franklin County.
The report, published Wednesday by Michael Stinziano, details the office’s efforts to strengthen core public services while maintaining oversight of the county’s finances and property assessment processes. Officials say the document highlights operational milestones from the past year, including upgrades to tax accounting infrastructure and expanded community engagement programs.
According to the report, the auditor’s office administered a county budget of $2.41 billion in 2025 — the largest county budget in Ohio. The office is responsible for overseeing financial accountability across county agencies, managing property tax systems, and protecting consumers through regulatory inspections.
The annual report is now available on the auditor’s office website and provides an overview of the agency’s performance and priorities over the past year. Officials say it is intended to give residents greater transparency into how the office manages public resources and supports county services.
“In 2025, the Franklin County Auditor’s Office strengthened the systems residents rely on, deepened our connections across the community, and advocated for meaningful property tax relief,” Stinziano said. “This annual report reflects our unfailing commitment to responsive service and to building a stronger, more reliable office for the people of Franklin County.”
Technology upgrades and financial oversight
A key focus of the office’s work in 2025 involved modernizing the county’s tax accounting system. While the report does not provide detailed technical specifications, officials say the upgrades were designed to improve efficiency, accuracy, and long-term reliability in managing property tax data and financial records.
The modernization initiative comes as county governments across the United States face growing demands for digital infrastructure capable of handling large volumes of financial and property-related data. In Franklin County, where property values and tax revenue continue to play a central role in funding local services, maintaining robust accounting systems is considered essential.
Beyond technology upgrades, the auditor’s office continued to oversee the reassessment of property values — a core responsibility that helps determine property tax obligations across the county. Accurate property valuation is particularly important for municipal budgeting and school funding, both of which rely heavily on property tax revenue.
Consumer protection and regulatory inspections
The report also highlights the office’s consumer protection work, particularly through inspections designed to ensure accuracy in commercial transactions.
In 2025, the auditor’s office inspected 5,103 gas pumps, cash registers, and retail scanners across Franklin County. These inspections are intended to verify that devices accurately measure fuel or calculate prices, while also identifying potential credit card skimming devices that could put consumers at risk.
Such inspections are part of the county’s weights-and-measures enforcement program, which aims to maintain fairness in retail transactions and protect residents from fraud or inaccurate pricing.
Officials say maintaining these inspections is critical for consumer confidence and marketplace transparency, particularly in high-volume retail environments.
Community outreach and public engagement
In addition to regulatory and financial oversight, the report emphasizes the office’s continued investment in community engagement initiatives.
One of the main outreach efforts highlighted is the office’s monthly Community Connects sessions. These events provide residents with opportunities to meet directly with subject-matter experts from the auditor’s office at locations throughout the county.
During the sessions, residents can ask questions about property taxes, homestead exemptions, property valuations, and other services managed by the auditor’s office. The program is intended to make government services more accessible while improving communication between residents and county officials.
Officials say the sessions also provide an opportunity to address concerns related to property tax assessments, which have become an increasingly important issue for homeowners in many parts of the region.
Licensing and other services
The report also notes the office’s continued administration of dog licensing across Franklin County, a long-standing responsibility that supports local animal control programs and public safety initiatives.
While dog licensing is a smaller component of the office’s operations compared with financial oversight and property valuation, officials say it remains an important public service that helps communities manage lost pets and enforce vaccination requirements.
Taken together, the initiatives highlighted in the report illustrate the wide range of responsibilities handled by the auditor’s office — from managing billions in public funds to conducting consumer protection inspections and maintaining local licensing programs.
Stinziano said the office plans to build on these efforts in the coming year, continuing to focus on modernization, transparency, and community engagement.
The 2025 Annual Report is publicly accessible through the Franklin County Auditor’s Office website, where residents can review the full breakdown of programs, statistics, and service updates from the past year.