Colorado Spending Transparency

Why does state government spend our tax dollars to advertise? Is it in competition with the private sector for customers? Worse than using our money to advertise programs that cost us money, is the fact that it is way too difficult to find out details about how and why the money was spent.

Channel 7 and Call 7 investigators are the latest to discover what we at COST and citizen auditors already know, the Ritter administration does not embrace transparency. In the case of Channel 7, investigators simply inquired about advertising expenses for DORA but getting the information not so simple.

The state Department of Regulatory Agencies has spent more than $200,000 to advertise their state agency, but when CALL7 Investigators wanted to look into the agency the staff put up roadblocks, including trying to charge $40,000 to look at records.

DORA isn’t the only department spending money on advertising. According to the Transparency Online Project, the state has spent $764,024.72 on advertising for fiscal year 2011, which began on July 1, 2010. That’s more than $16,000 per day. This begs several questions including why is state advertising? What is the state advertising? How does advertising benefit taxpayers? And most importantly, why won’t some departments such as DORA explain the expenditures?

COST has inquired about advertising spending for other agencies and did not encounter the road blocks that Call 7 investigators did. Still we have yet to determine if all advertising actually benefits Colorado taxpayers. It certainly benefits those companies that get the advertising contracts.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes promised that if elected he would post online all his state credit card transactions down to the penny. He went further than that. During his appearance on Transparency Czarina Amy Oliver’s radio show, Maes pledged to post all state credit card transactions.

Maes pledge was a response to Amy’s question about improving the state’s transparency Web site, the Transparency Online Project, called “the nation’s most user unfriendly.” Maes says he believes every taxpayer has a right to know where every dime of their money is spent.

Should he win, COST intends to hold him to his promise. It would be a refreshing change from the current attitude towards transparency.

Become a Citizen Auditor and win $2500! Mothers Against Debt, the Independence Institute, Liberty on the Rocks and Americans for Prosperity are sponsoring Citizen Auditor training throughout Colorado.

Become a citizen auditor and win cash!

The Independence Institute will conduct classes to teach concerned citizens how to use the state’s Transparency Online Project (TOP) web site, our Vendor Web site and how to submit a CORA request. They will also touch on local budgets and school districts as well. Using these tools, the Institute will encourage attendees to search for particular expenditures and to get as much detailed information about them as possible in order to win a cash prize. They will be looking for wasteful, outrageous government spending. All entries must include a one-page summary and copies of supporting documents. Entries are due on Friday, October 1st. Voting will take place between Oct. 4 and Oct. 10. Winners will be announced on October 12.

The best examples of wasteful spending that should be/could be cut out of state or local budgets will be posted on the fan pages of both Independence Institute and Mothers Against Debt. Become a fan and vote for your favorite wasteful expenditure. We encourage participants to get others to vote on line as well.

Prizes:

1st place: $ 2500

2nd place: $750

3rd place: $500

Honorable mention: ten prizes $100 each.

For more information please email: citizenauditor@libertyontherocks.org

Dates and Locations for training:

Denver

Monday, July 26 5 to 7pm Pasquinis Restaurant 8101 E. Belleview Ave. Denver, CO

Grand Junction

Tuesday, July 27 6 to 8 pm Old Mesa County Courthouse

Multipurpose Room 544 Rood Avenue (east entrance) Grand Junction, CO

Colorado Springs

Thursday, July 29 6 to 8pm Rockrimmon Library, 832 Village Center Drive, Colorado Springs, CO

Loveland

Thursday, August 12 5:30 to 7:30pm McGraff’s Restaurant 1602 East Eisenhower Blvd. Loveland, CO

For more information and to RSVP contact citizenauditor@libertyontherocks.org

Can a governor get a do-over for a veto?

In light of recent news reports about the state’s “revenue” shortfall, COST wonders if Governor Bill Ritter is wishing he could take a mulligan for his veto of HB 1287, a bipartisan bill that would have limited the use of state vehicles for personal commuting.  According to the fiscal note it could have saved the state as much as $3 million.

The Denver Post reports again today that the state is short on taxpayer dollars, which it calls “revenue,” in part because personal income tax collections fell below predicted levels.  As a result, the state will begin the new fiscal year on July 1 nearly $72 million in the red forcing Ritter to developing a plan to cut spending:

That plan, likely to be implemented in August, could include furlough days for state employees and additional cuts to health care and public schools.

The fleet vehicle bill wouldn’t have been a game changer, but it certainly could have reduced the total amount of red ink.

If you don’t think local activists asking a few a questions can make a difference, then visit a new watch-dog Web site that is keeping an eye on the Lewis-Palmer School District in Monument. Lewis-Palmer Direction 38 explains its mission:

This site aims to provide another source of information for the public to access.  As citizens of D-38, we are the “moral and legal owners of the District.”  Therefore, we must have access to all relevant information regarding our schools.  As well informed citizens of the District, we can formulate our own opinions to determine what actions should be taken for the best direction of our schools and community.

The site also makes it very clear that it is in NO WAY associated with the D-38’s official Web site.

The group that maintains LPD38 provides valuable information on the district’s finances, minutes of meetings, teacher and staff issues, news articles and opinion editorial.  One of the site’s best features is the “Awareness Campaign” which highlights facts specific to the district and opens with “Did you know?”

• D-38 has a high teacher turnover rate?
• the Board of Education must hold a public hearing before they adopt the budget for the upcoming school year? The public hearing for the 2010-11 Budget will be held on Thursday, June 17, 2010?
• you can purchase a copy of the proposed budget for $15? The proposed budget documents are not available on the District’s website this year. Contact the District’s business services at 719-488-4214  to request a copy
• Three of our five Board Directors will be up for re-election in November 2011?
• About 85% of the District’s budget goes to staff salary and benefits?

Natalie Menten is a hero (heroine to be accurate) to COST.  Her hobby is to make government accountable to the citizens it serves. On her Web site you will find numerous databases on government employees’ salaries, government credit card spending and fees.

She recently added Jeffco School District salaries. This is important information to have when local school districts ask for a tax increase as happened with 3A in Greeley Evans School District Six. (3A went down in flames) Voters wanted to know the salaries of much those asking for more taxpayer money — especially when they are making more than the average voter.

Remember, this is your money.  And then thank Natalie for taking the time and going to the expense to hold government accountable so you can see where your money is going.

The state cannot pay its bills and taxpayers get blamed. And no one asks where did the more than $18 billion in taxpayer dollars go.

The Denver Post reports:

Temporarily short on money, Colorado has declared a fiscal emergency and delayed payments to doctors and clinics taking care of the state’s neediest patients.

The usual suspects are providing the usual excuses.  Governor Bill Ritter’s spokesman Evan Dryer claimed the delay is a “cash flow” problem.  Joint Budget Committee member Senator Moe Keller (D-Wheat Ridge) blamed taxpayers who have asked for an extension on their income taxes and have not made “additional payments to the state.”

COST went to the Governor’s user-unfriendly transparency Web site (TOPs) to see where some of our money went.  Consider the following state expenditures:

• $3,238,437.68 for dues and memberships including various Chambers of Commerce, Colorado State Bar Association, Wine Development Fund and hundreds of other organizations.
• $6,426,999.36 for bank card fees. Question: do taxpayers get the reward points or miles?
• $65,824.78 for interest on late payments.
• $1,285,449.93 for “customer workshops” in places such as Beaver Run Resort.
• $2,841,045.14 in miscellaneous fees and fines. Maybe the state will reimburse taxpayers for parking tickets received near the state capitol for those taxpayers who parked too long at a meter waiting to testify in committee.
• $72,899,996.09 for travel including more than $8 million for non-employee, out-of-state travel and more than $2 million for non-employee, out-of-country travel.

In an email to a legislative staffer, State Representative John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins) directed her to use taxpayer-funded resources to send out what looks to be a fundraising invitation for Greater Good, a project of The Progress Group an organization with a motto: “Connecting Business & Community for the Greater Good.”

According to The Progress Group Web site:

The Progress Group provides strategic planning and business and policy development in support of clean energy, sustainability and social justice issues. We focus on mobilizing triple bottom line companies to engage in the policy process – at the federal, state and local level – around these issues. And to accelerate change, we help develop partnerships among public agencies, private companies, unions and non-profits. We support organizations launch and then scale their innovative triple bottom line business ideas, sustainable products and policies into the broader marketplace.

Richard Eidlin, founder of The Progress Group, has been “active in politics for years” according to the CORE (Connected Organizations for a Responsible Economy) Web site where Eidlin sits on the Board of Directors:

As a veteran in the environmental and renewable energy industries, Richard served as National Business Outreach Director for the Apollo Alliance; consulted to Earth Day USA and has been an officer in several national solar energy companies. Active in politics for years, Richard co-directed the Colorado Clean Tech for Obama campaign and advised candidate (and now Colorado Governor) Bill Ritter on renewable energy issues in 2006.

So Rep John Kefalas directed taxpayer resources to promote a leftist organization whose founder clearly supports Democrat candidates, which Kefalas is as well.

Currently, some state employee can use taxpayer-funded vehicles for personal commuting to and from work. Last year the Parole Department spent more than $1 million to purchase over 60 new hybrid sedans during “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression” that saw the state raise taxes and fees and take more handouts from the federal government so that Parole employees could “ride share” to and from work.

As a result of this questionable use of taxpayer funds, Rep. Kent Lambert and Sen. Bill Cadman sponsored legislation to curb the abuse. House Bill 10-1287, “Concerning the use of a state-owned motor vehicle for commuting purposes” passed both the House and Senate but could not escape Governor Bill Ritter’s veto pen.

In a letter to the House of Representatives, Ritter explains why:

the category of employees who are exempt from the reimbursement requirement is too narrow.  Under this bill, a large number of state employees who are required to use a state-owned vehicle as an essential tool for performing their jobs would be financially penalized.  As a result of imposing this financial burden, it would be harder to hire and retain employees in these positions that are vital to the health and safety of the public.

Vetoing this bill does not prevent DPA or other agency heads from continually reviewing the use of state vehicles for commuting purposes and modifying the program in a measured way.  But this bill, however well-intentioned, sweeps too broadly and at too great a cost to public safety and the efficient delivery of essential state services.

Accordingly, I have vetoed this bill.

The Governor is correct, vetoing HB 10-1287 “does not prevent DPA or other agency heads from continually reviewing the use of state vehicles for commuting purposes and modifying the program in a measured way.” Problem is agency heads aren’t doing their job, which is why Rep. Kent Lambert and Sen. Bill Cadman ran the legislation in the first place.

Another problem with the veto is that the estimated $3 million in cost saving will have to be found elsewhere in the budget.  After passage in the Senate, COST reported via the Colorado New Agency:

An honest and humorous comment came from Senator Pat Steadman, who “congratulated Cadman on getting his ‘lead balloon to fly.’” He wanted the estimated $3 million in savings to the state.

“I was scrounging through the sofa cushions looking for spare change for some long bill (budget) amendments and this is one of the places I was looking to – the savings in this bill.”

So state employees still get to enjoy a free ride, while taxpayers pick up the budget shortfall.

The 2010 Colorado General Assembly passed judgment on 23 pieces of legislation, including one joint resolution, that claim some type of transparency benefit.  Seventeen passed.

Some were great such as Rep. Amy Stephens’ bill requiring transparency for gifts, grants and donations that pay for special interest government and Rep BJ Nikkel’s bill requiring more detailed information be made available on the state’s disappointing transparency Web site called Transparency Online Project (TOP).

Some bills were bad. HB 1330, the transparency trojan horse that supporters called the All Payer Health Care Database, was particularly bad.

Some bills were acceptable but not great because they bumped bills that were much better.  The Public School Financial Transparency Act and Smart Government fall into this category.

For a more detailed wrap up of how transparency fared during the 2010 legislative session visit iVoices.org to hear our transparency podcast.