Center for Fiscal Accountability

From Sunshine Review

Coalition partner

The Center for Fiscal Accountability is a project launched by Americans for tax reform in 2008. The project hopes to create a level of transparency on government expenditures; promote transparency and accountability; and restraint in government finance. The website focuses on federal, state and local spending.

Contents 1 Objectives 2 Transparency advancements 2.1 Colorado 2.2 Nevada 3 External links 4 References

[edit] Objectives

According to the website the project hopes to achieve:^[1]

1. To work with policymakers and activists to enhance transparency in government spending by creating searchable online databases
2. To develop best practices based on experiences at various levels of government
3. To highlight developments and efforts pertaining to the area of fiscal accountability
4. To educate taxpayers on fraud, waste and abuse in government finance and to provide them with the tools to combat these
5. To serve as a clearinghouse for information and to facilitate contact between parties involved in the effort to make government more accountable to taxpayers

[edit] Transparency advancements

The Center for Fiscal Accountability has highlighted Missouri, Texas, Kansas and Utah as some of the best examples of state-run government transparency sites.^[2][3][4][5]

[edit] Colorado

Fort Collins, Colorado has put its spending online. A September 2008 resolution that the city council passed created the website. The site launched a little later than planned due to the addition of more detailed information.

Taxpayers can view purchase order and invoice numbers, comments on the expenditure and whether it was made on a purchase card. The site also has city employees' salaries posted, though by title, not name, for privacy concerns.^[6]

Colorado state released its own transparency website, but the Center for Fiscal Accountability considers Jefferson County's site more accountable.

Colorado state's portal, called the Transparency Online Project (TOPS), allows taxpayers to look at expenses in each department, by expenditure type, by vendors, and by revenue type, the data is not sorted well enough to give taxpayers a clear idea of the direction of their tax dollars.

Governor Bill Ritter once fought the transparency efforts, then issued an executive order with some exceptions. The site then fell short of what CFA calls "legitimate expectations."^[7]

CFA pointed out that Jefferson County's Jeffco portal does not offer a detailed view of the county’s checkbook. However, the 700-plus procurement cards used by county employees are posted. These cards have been the catalyst for unaccountable spending in the past in Jefferson County. The site offers contextual information so taxpayers know why they paid, for example, Dependable Cleaners $100.35 on July 17. The county hopes to offer information on contracts and its checkbook soon.^[8]

[edit] Nevada

A CFA ally, Citizen Outreach, wrote a letter to Nevada Governor Bob Gibbons following up on the status of Nevada state spending transparency. In the letter, Citizen Outreach pointed out that Gibbons signed an Executive Order on March 18, 2008 mandating the immediate creation of “a free Internet portal allowing citizens to review state financial records to the full extent possible by law,” including “expenditure information.”

The letter continued to point out that Nevada did not have an adequate portal for spending transparency. Currently, the state operates Nevada Open Government.^[7]

[edit] External links

• Center for Fiscal Accountability
• Fort Collins' Open Book transparency website
• Jeffco portal
• Colorado's state Transparency Online Project
• Nevada Open Government

[edit] References