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¬rent technology enabling quick transfer of spreadsheets,
reports, charts, graphs and presentations to easily downloaded PDF
files, there’s no reason for any government agency not to post its
budget data online, where anyone can easily access it.
With current technology enabling quick transfer of spreadsheets, reports, charts, graphs and presentations to easily downloaded PDF files, there’s no reason for any government agency not to post its budget data online, where anyone can easily access it.
Making this most important information about our elected officials – how they’re spending taxpayer dollars – easily accessible is a no brainer.
Unless elected officials and top administrators have something to hide, they really have no reason to make residents drive to City Hall or other administrative offices to take a peek at the balance sheets.
That’s why we’re disappointed that the following local agencies don’t post their budgets on the Internet, and we call upon them to do so quickly:
• South County Regional Wastewater Authority – $18.4 million annual budget
• Santa Clara County Library – $20,570,000 annual budget (projected)
• Gavilan Community College – $26,258,000 annual budget (projected)
• Gilroy Unified School District – $23,902,621 annual budget (projected)
• California Highway Patrol – $1.2 billion annual budget (projected)
The City of Gilroy only posts a budget summary at this point, but Mayor Al Pinheiro and City Administrator Jay Baksa are in the process of rectifying that situation. Kudos to those agencies, including Santa Clara County, the city of Morgan Hill, Santa Clara Valley Water District, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, California Department of Forestry, the State of California, and the United States federal government, which do provide fiscal facts that citizens can easily access on the Internet.
An informed citizenry is the best check on out-of-control government. Taking a close look at how government officials are spending the dollars that taxpayers entrust to them is the best defense against mismanagement, waste and fraud.
For those agencies that haven’t posted their budgets, contact its elected officials to demand that they let the electronic sun shine on their budgets by posting them on the Internet. Every one of these agencies has budgets in the millions of dollars. The technology to create PDF files and post them on the Internet is inexpensive and easy to use.
After all, as New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch said, “To restore and keep the public’s confidence in the integrity of their government, … government and its officials must be open, honest and transparent.”
Posting budgets on the Internet is an easy, inexpensive and important step toward that open, honest and transparent government we deserve.
