Nearly $1.4 Trillion in Government Spending Data Now Just a Few Clicks Away
- BY FGA
TALLAHASSEE – The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) is shining a light on Florida government spending with the largest and most interactive government transparency Web site in the state—FloridaOpenGov.org. With about 35 million public records detailing nearly $1.4 trillion in spending and payroll by state, county, municipality and school, FloridaOpenGov.org is taxpayers’ online transparency hub for government spending down to the employee, department and dollar.
FloridaOpenGov.org includes 18 years of spending and 15 years of payroll data—all obtained through public records requests—with a simple user-interface allowing visitors to search by employee name, department, salary, county, spending category, year, and more.
“FloridaOpenGov.org is about super sizing taxpayers’ right to know how politicians are spending their money—down to the employee, department and dollar,” explained FGA Chief Executive Officer Tarren Bragdon.
FloridaOpenGov.org includes:
• County government payroll (FY 1997-2011)
• Local K-12 public education payroll (FY 1997-2011)
• State government payroll (1995-2010)
• Local government spending (FY 1993-2010)
• State vendor payments (FY 2005-2011)
FGA unveiled FloridaOpenGov.org on Monday at a Statehouse press conference, with a bipartisan group of state and local elected officials. These officials helped raise awareness about FloridaOpenGov.org and the opportunities it creates for taxpayers to learn more about politicians’ spending decisions.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater praised FloridaOpenGov.org as a powerful new taxpayer tool:
“As an advocate for government transparency, I support all resources both public and private, including FloridaOpenGov.org, that provide taxpayers with the tools to keep tabs on how their dollars are being spent,” he said.
State Representatives Matt Hudson (R-Naples), Rachel Burgin (R-Tampa Bay) and Joseph Abruzzo (D-Wellington) and City of Longwood Mayor Joe Durso also endorsed FloridaOpenGov.org as an important addition to Florida’s government transparency movement. Other leaders noted the site’s value as well.
At the Capitol, Bragdon highlighted key findings from FloridaOpenGov.org, including the top ten highest paid state government workers (Department of Education employee Frank Brogan is number one), government workers who are members of the $100k salary club, state vendors with the most in government contract and payments, and local spending data.
CLICK HERE to see the PowerPoint presentation shown at Monday’s press conference.
“FloridaOpenGov.org will change all future conversations over government spending. This easy-to-use online transparency hub allows citizens and taxpayers to become more informed than ever before. An informed citizen is strong and powerful,” Bragdon said.
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