MEET THE TREASURER
The Honorable Cheryl Brooks Sullivan was elected as the 43rd Franklin County Treasurer in 2016 and re-elected in 2020.
She is the first African American to serve as Franklin County Treasurer and the first African American woman to serve in any Franklin County office.
Early Life and Background
Treasurer Brooks Sullivan was born in Columbus, Ohio, and spent her early childhood in England as her father served in the United States Air Force as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen. She and her family returned stateside when she was 6 years old; she attended high school at Eastmoor and Marion Franklin in Columbus City Schools and college at The Ohio State University and Franklin University.
Like her late father, Treasurer Brooks Sullivan is a military veteran. She served with the United States Army Security Agency, Central Intelligence Division, where she held a top-secret security clearance as a 05D.20 Cryptographic Special Identification Technique Operator. She completed her military assignment in 1977 with an honorable discharge.
When she returned home after her military service, Ms. Brooks Sullivan joined ranks with Laborers’ International Union Local 423 and specialized in asbestos abatement. Since 1980, she also has been involved in the management, administration, appraisal and sale of real estate.
Accomplishments in Office
As Franklin County Treasurer, Cheryl Brooks Sullivan has prioritized new initiatives and partnerships. Her goal has been to expand and modernize the technological tools available to taxpayers, to streamline the processes of the Franklin County Treasurer’s Office, and to identify and support populations at risk of losing their homes.
One of the first initiatives she tackled was expanding email billing options for Franklin County’s twice-yearly property tax collections, which has saved taxpayer dollars in printing and mailing expenses.
Beyond her statutory responsibility of collecting real-estate taxes, Treasurer Brooks Sullivan is committed to keeping people in the homes they’ve worked hard to purchase. In 2020, she created a Director of Retention Services in the Treasurer’s Office and began designing a program to help struggling homeowners avoid tax foreclosure if they’ve fallen behind on their property taxes.
As part of her duties, Treasurer Brooks Sullivan serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation and as Chair of the Franklin County Budget Commission and the Franklin County Investment Advisory Committee. She is a member of the Franklin County Board of Revision, the Franklin County Automatic Data Processing Board and the Franklin County Microfilming Board.
Community Involvement and Service
As an avid community volunteer, Treasurer Brooks Sullivan serves as a Trustee of the Greater Columbus Arts Council and as a Board member for Ohio Legal Help. She also is affiliated with the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Central Ohio Chapter and the Columbus, Ohio Chapter of the NAACP.
She is the proud mother of two adult children and a grandmother of four.