Local political institutions including schools, which consume massive proportions of local taxes, often hide their financial details behind large vague budget items. Require any local agency receiving federal money to release full detailed line item expenses at the accounts payable level using an open system such as Google Docs Spreadsheets. If the citizens can see where the money is really going then we can provide better ideas and force true accountability. The local power structures are often too strong for such an idea to grow from the bottom but it would work if required by the federal government.
Full line item detail: Local
Tags: tax line item accounts payable google
Comments (3)
This seems to run counter to principles of local control. There must be benefits from citizens getting active to demand local governments be more accountable, rather than imposing such a requirement from the federal level.
and add citability to the mix and you can track the dollars externally and cite them properly :-) http://bit.ly/ypCA9
citability.pbworks.com
The only way you'll get better transparency is if they actually open their accounts. Seeing their line item budget will not help and will be very onerous.