advancing government accountability and transparency through citizen centric reporting

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Advancing Government

Accountability and

Transparency Through

Citizen Centric Reporting

May 20, 2008

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Background

• AGA is committed to fulfilling a public

interest obligation to advance government

accountability.

• Citizens have a right to an understanding

of how governments are spending their

money and if it is being efficient and

effective.

• Current reporting is too cumbersome for

the average citizen.

• AGA commissions National Survey.

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AGA/ Harris Interactive® Survey

Public Attitudes Toward Government

Accountability and Transparency 2008

• Government at all levels is failing to meet the

needs of its citizens with regard to financial

management reporting.

• The public at large overwhelmingly believes

government has the obligation to provide reporting

that explains how the government generates and

spends its money; however, government is not

meeting expectations in any area included in this

survey.

Complete Survey Results at

http://www.agacgfm.org/harrispoll2008.aspx

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• Across all levels of government, those surveyed

held being “open and honest in spending practices”

and being “responsible to the public for its

spending” vitally important but felt that

government performance was poor in this area.

• Respondents are specific in the ways in which

government can address their needs and improve

accountability, including better reporting (open

disclosure, easy-to-read reports), a change in

attitude in communications (honesty and

transparency) and better information in the right

channels (websites, through the press).

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• There is an overall agreement on the importance

for federal, state and local governments’ financial

management information to be available to the

public.

• Only 5% believe that having this information

available to them is not important, regardless of

level of government.

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• However, among those who do receive

information about governments’ generation and

spending of money, there is a strong dissatisfaction

with the information that they receive.

• The strongest dissatisfaction is with the

information about the Federal government’s

financial management (Federal, 61%; State, 47%;

Local, 38%).

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• A large majority of Americans (89%) believe that

as taxpayers, they are entitled to transparent

financial management information.

• 57% take the strongest position possible that

government has an obligation to provide reports

that explain how the government generates and

spends money.

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AGA Citizen-Centric Reporting

AGA believes that government financial

information should be provided in forms

that are:

• Clear and Understandable

• Updated Regularly and Often

• Delivered to All and Easy to Locate

• Honest in Breadth and Technically

Accurate in Detail

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• AGA believes that its citizen friendly

four-page report template can contribute

to a solution

• League of Women Voters Support

• Sloan Foundation Grant Support

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Resources Available:

• Content Guidelines

• Design Guidelines

• Media and Communications Templates

• Completed Reports – Don’t Reinvent

the Wheel!

Constructing A Report Doesn’t take a

Super Human Effort!

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• Page 1

o Strategic Objectives - What we’re required to do

o Demographic information

• Page 2

o Notable Accomplishments - top services

o Performance metrics (non-financial) for services

• Page 3

o Revenues and Expenses - pie charts

• Page 4

o What’s Next? Future Challenges?

o Infrastructure items

AGA Citizen-Centric Report

Content Guidelines

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AGA Citizen-Centric Report

Design Guidelines

• Visual Appeal & Readability

• Use of Pictures and Pie Charts

• 10-point Font or Higher

• Ample White Space

• Free of Technical Accounting Jargon – Keep it Simple

• Professional Designer or Publishing Software

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Page 1 Example:

What are we

required to do?

Population,

Per capita

income, # of

gov’t workers

How the

government is

setup

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Page 2 Example:

Ask what

performance

metrics do you

want to see

included?

Report on 3 - 4

key services

(non-financial

outcomes) -

Compare to

previous years

Go to website

for more

information

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Page 3 Example:

Include similar

statement – re:

audit

Use Pie Charts

- compare to

previous years

Complete

financial

information

can be found

on website

Costs/Revenues

for servicing

citizens

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Page 4 Example:

Include similar

statement -

feedback

Report on 3 - 4

major challenges

facing community

Include

contact name

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Distribute Your Report

• Print in local newspaper

• Post to website

• Print bulk copies – libraries, grocery stores, city hall

• Hold a press conference

• Mailing lists

• Governor’s office, city/county offices

• Activist Groups, League of Women Voters

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Completed Reports

• AGA

• Maricopa County, Arizona

• City of Portland, Oregon

• State of Oregon

• State of Nevada

• City of Saco, Maine

• Washington D.C.

• City of Tallahassee, Florida

• Blount County, Tennessee

• Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities

Council

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Completed Reports

• Village of Los Lunas, New Mexico

• TN Comptroller of the Treasury

• Office of Management Services, Comptroller

of the Treasury, State of Tennessee

• Saint Louis County, Minnesota

• City of Virginia Beach, Virginia (draft)

• Columbus Metropolitan Library (draft)

• City of Carmel, Indiana (draft)

• City of Lawrence, Indiana (draft)

• State of Indiana (draft)

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Others in the Works

• U.S. Coast Guard

• U.S. Department of Defense

• Denali Commission

• City of Phoenix, Arizona

• Albany, New York

• State of Arizona

• State of Nevada

• City of Schenectady, New York

• Strong Interest from Many Others

• Your Government Here!

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• AGA believes that these reports will make

governments more accountable to their citizens,

and will help Americans become better educated

and better able to participate in government

activities.

“This initiative is about honestly reporting back to our

citizens and saying, „This is what‟s been done well, and

this is where we‟re going to need to improve in the

years to come.‟ This state learned long ago that you

can‟t move forward without its citizens weighing in, and

we hope this report is a big step in making that process

easier.”—John J. Radford, CGFM, CIA, CFE, State

Controller, State of Oregon

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www.agacgfm.org

Please let us know what you think

about citizen centric reporting!

Contact Susan Fritzlen at

[email protected] and/or

1.800.242.7211.

advancing government accountability and transparency through citizen centric reporting

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