Colorado Spending 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

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?

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.

Taxpayers in Greeley will be happy to know that the city has placed online a wealth of information. On the city’s new transparency page visitors will find everything from the employee pay schedule to financial reports including the check registry.   The city even included a link with information on where to direct an open records request.

COST thanks the city of Greeley for respecting taxpayers.  Greeley Evans School District 6?

My friend and colleague Ben DeGrow, blogger extraordinaire at Mount Virtus, asked his city council candidates about their stance on transparency at the local level.  According to Ben, two agreed to allow their answers to be posted on his blog and those two candidates seem very supportive of opening the books to taxpayers.   After reviewing Open Book Fort Collins, Candidate Shelly Cook had this to say about transparency :

If I am elected, I will absolutely take this forward, advocate energetically for it, arrange field trips or guest speakers, if need be, to introduce folks to the thinking about and results of theses programs elsewhere.

What COST finds encouraging is that voters are holding candidates and elected officials accountable for transparency.  Taxpayers want to know how their money is spent. 

No taxation without information!

There is no guarantee that voters will reward a transparent government by approving a tax increase.  But it sure is easier for any government to make its case for more money when it has shown taxpayers the respect they deserve by providing detailed financial transparency.  With detailed, online financial transparency, government demonstrates that it wants to be a good steward of precious taxpayer resources.

In a few short weeks, Greeley Evans School District 6 will find out if it will have to pay a political price for resisting transparency and having a one of its board members Bob Stack, along with the rest of the education lobby, testify against the Public School Financial Transparency Act.  The Greeley school district is hoping for a massive property tax increase, ballot measure 3A.  Suddenly, the school district is bragging about its latest efforts at transparency.

In a recent press release, District 6 claims it “is providing more online access to its budget and financial documents and posting easy-to-understand explanations of district funding and how that money is used to educate students.”  While the Greeley school district brags about its latest feature, Money Matters, it’s clear the district either doesn’t know what transparency means or it doesn’t want to provide detailed information.

The information provided on Money Matters is aggregated and without context.  For instance, taxpayers can find out that the school district spent $20,363 on “advertising”, $24,134 on “miscellaneous”, and $18,620 on “other objects,” but they have no idea how those expenditures helped “educate students.” 

Let’s be honest, the District 6 school board and administration are more examples of how taxpayers have to drag government kicking and screaming into transparency.  The only reason they have put anything online is because they want a massive tax increase and “people are talking.” The only thing transparent about District 6 is its reason for suddenly embracing transparency.

District 6 voters can’t expect any help from the local newspaper the Greeley Tribune. In one of a series of op-eds supporting 3A, the newspaper blamed taxpayers, “Residents worried about accountability need to take responsibility. Volunteer for the advisory board. Attend school board meetings. Ask for budget information. Talk with teachers to see if they are getting what they were promised.” 

In other words, if taxpayers want to know how their money is spent, then they will have to take time out of their day to find out.  The school district can’t be bothered with transparency.  It’s too busy spending your money!

What remains to be seen is if voters will see the district’s desire for more money as a teachable moment with the lesson being: No taxation without information.

People interested in helping teach government a lesson can join the Facebook group Citizens Against School Bullies.

Voters interested in finding out more information about the pro 3A side can visit Citizens 4 Strong Schools.

Greeley Tribune publisher Bart Smith criticized taxpayers who demand more transparency in the face of 3A, a massive property tax increase for Greeley Evans School District 6.  In an opinion editorial urging a yes vote, Smith reveals his own naive understanding of transparency in Colorado. 

Others who say they want more transparency show their lack of knowledge of how a public institution operates. School financing is an open book. Anyone who chooses can dive into the records and see how every cent is spent.

Our own Amy Oliver sent a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request to District 6 two weeks ago.  She still has not received all the information.  (Although we hear the District promises to have it to her by the end of business today) So much for seeing how every cent is spent.

Perhaps Smith failed to notice that the Colorado Press Association supported SB09-57 the School District Financial Transparency Act, which would have required Colorado school districts to provide detailed financial information online in a searchable format. 

He also probably failed to notice that both the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post supported the legislation.

The curious position of the Greeley Tribune does lead us to wonder why a newspaper would not support calls for more transparency.  It’s obvious the Northern Colorado newspaper does not subscribe to our motto:  No taxation without information!  Odd.

Jefferson County Administrator Jim Moore is a bureaucrat on a seemingly impossible mission.  He wants to re-establish trust between Jefferson County residents and their government. How? By being as open and transparent as possible.  According to a blog post from Moore:

Complete and accurate information is the best antidote to the spin and sometimes deliberate misinformation that has become far too commonplace in our world today. The most powerful force in a representative democracy is a well-informed and engaged citizenry. That’s what Transparent Jeffco is all about.

Jefferson County’s recently launched transparency initiative Transparent Jeffco is about “open government” and changing the way Jeffco residents “interact” with “county government.”  This summer the county put online, in a searchable format all 600 plus procurement cards.  Want to know how much the county spent at Bed, Bath and Beyond?  It’s there as well as a description of the purchase or credit.  Contracts and check registry are coming soon.  

Moore believes that transparency is more than just financial.  Jeffco residents and Web site visitors are encouraged to provide feedback.  Contact information is everywhere.  The Jeffco Blog is available for comments.  And now the county offers video streaming with an integrated agenda for commissioners’ meetings.  

Colorado Transparency Project Director Amy Oliver Cooke interviewed Moore for a podcast on iVoices.org.  Moore reveals the specifics about how he and his staff, including Public Information Director Kathryn Heider, reached out to residents and employees about what they would like see; how they got two departments to coordinate efforts; how they overcame the fear of transparency; biggest obstacles and his goals for the future.

Transparency can be achieved when it’s a priority.  Jeffco proves it.

Up next for Moore and his staff? Priority based budgeting.  COST wishes every county in Colorado had a Jim Moore.

Transparent Jeffco quick facts: developed in-house; cost $3400; launched summer 2009; updated every two weeks or as bank statements come into the county; still waiting to track unique visitors; feedback ability; contracts and checkbook coming soon.

Governor Bill Ritter and Treasurer Cary Kennedy quietly launched the Transparency Online Project(TOPS).  COST doesn’t believe that TOPS is what State Rep BJ Nikkel and transparency activists envisioned with HB 1288 the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act.  According to a press release from the Governor’s office: 

TOP sets a new standard for accountability, responsibility and transparency in state government, Gov. Ritter said. Taxpayers now have a convenient and modern tool to see exactly where their money is going and how it’s being spent.

If TOPS is the “new standard” then Ritter and Kennedy set the bar fairly low.  Problem is taxpayers can’t see ”exactly where their money is going” because the Web site doesn’t provide details.  Under “Expenditure Type Search” visitors find that the “drill down path” provides a summary for each agency, department and fund.   In some cases a name is attached to aggregated spending, particularly in the case of travel expenses, but no context is provided. 

No wonder the Governor fought so hard against transparency, he doesn’t really seem to understand it.  To help the Governor, COST has taken the liberty of providing a few examples on the local and state level: Transparent Jeffco, Open Book Fort Collins, Missouri Accountability Portal (MAP) and KanView. It can be done!

COST believes now is a good time to remind taxpayers of our motto:  No taxation without information!

Boulder city government has an expanding waistline. The Daily Camera reports that “Boulder taxpayers shelled out more than $230,100 for government food last year, representing a 13 percent increase over 2007 and 19 percent over 2006 food expenses.”

The paper offered further explanation:

The costs are for a wide range of snacks and meals for employees, officials and volunteers, including: $64,700 for boards and commissions; $50,800 for promotions, retirement parties and employee recognition; $25,200 for training; $21,400 for coffee and bottled water; $18,500 for public meetings and community forums; and $4,600 for traveling employees.

But apparently the Boulder Planning Board is looking out for taxpayers’ money.

Susan Honse, clerk to the Planning Board, said that group has taken the charge to reduce its food costs seriously. While the board used to go out to restaurants before meetings, she said, it has decided in the past year to order mostly take-out and forego special beverages.

“They get ice water,” Honse said. “They love their water.”

COST commends members of the planning board for willingly sacrificing “special beverages” in order to save money.  Hopefully it will be enough to save the libraries.

This situation reminds us of something that transparency activist Natalie Menten says, ”it becomes very easy to spend someone else’s money, unless that someone is watching.”

Boulder needs transparency.