City of Eagle Accountability and Transparency Ordinance

Many Eagle citizens frequently ask, "Where does the city government
spend my money?" Taxpayers should be able to get answers quickly and
conveniently. This is especially true since the Internet makes
accessing information easier than ever.

The city should demonstrate a commitment to transparency and follow
the example of the federal and many state and local governments by
providing a free easy-to-use website where citizens can get quick
answers to their questions.

Last year the federal government enacted the Federal Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act. This new law was co-sponsored by
senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Barack Obama (D-IL) and passed Congress
unanimously. The act provides a roadmap for states, counties, and
cities on how to allow citizens to find out about government spending.

Eagle City Government can take a step in creating trust by adopting an
Open Book policy. This total transparency package would create a new
online database on the City's website and include:

Check Register - This database would provide amount, date, payor,
and purpose.

Credit Card Statements - This database would provide copies of the
detailed monthly statements for all city credit cards.

Contracts - This database would provide a record for each contract
that would include the purpose of the contract,
the amount, the winning bidder, and a list of the qualified bidders.

Grants - This database would provide a record of each grant, the
amount, and the purpose.

All of the databases would be online, fully searchable, updated daily,
and be downloadable into spreadsheet format.

Thomas Jefferson knew that transparency was important long before the
advent of the Internet. In 1802 he wrote, "We might hope to see the
finances of the Union as clear and intelligible as a merchant's books,
so that every member of Congress and every man of any mind in the
Union should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and
consequently to control them."

Enacting a comprehensive searchable budget website would also help to
fulfill the expectation of the people expressed by the preamble to our
state's open government law: "The people of the state of Idaho in
creating the instruments of government that serve them, do not yield
their sovereignty to the agencies so created." (Title 67-2340).

This policy would go a long way toward preventing waste and fraud,
improving government performance, and building public trust. Time for
the City of Eagle to move forward with an open book and open access
policy.