transparency at work in texas suzy whittenton director of fiscal management texas comptroller of...
TRANSCRIPT
Transparency at Work in Texas
Suzy WhittentonDirector of Fiscal Management
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
August 11, 2008
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Transparency – An old issue
“The liberties of a people never were nor ever will be secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. … to cover, with the veil of secrecy, the common routine of business, is an abomination in the eyes of every intelligent man, and every friend to his country.” – Patrick Henry, Virginia revolutionary (1736-1799).
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Transparency – But still fresh
“Government spending is often seen as impenetrable and unknowable. Taxpayers have the absolute right to know how their money is being spent, and it is only with transparency that government can be held truly accountable.”- Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
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Why did we put expenditures on line?
Part of continued plan to set new standards for transparency and accountability in state spending.
Taxpayers expect and deserve it — it’s their money.– Public has easy access to information useful in
deciding whether tax dollars are being spent in a responsible manner.
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Why did we put expenditures on line?
State agencies have embraced the idea — we must better inform taxpayers about how the government spends their hard-earned dollars – We’re working with state agencies to upgrade
technology or do whatever it takes to enable them to report their expenditures to post online.
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Steps to Show “Where The Money Goes”
Starting Simple – January 2007– The first step was simple - posting the agency’s
own detailed expenditures online. A high-profile link to the Web page was provided on the
agency’s home page, which receives more than 15 million hits a month on average.
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Steps to Show “Where The Money Goes”
Opening the Window Wider – April 2007– At the Comptroller’s request, 24 of the state’s
largest agencies provided their detailed expenditures to the Comptroller’s office to post on the Web in simple table format to share with the public.
These agencies account for close to 80 percent of state expenses.
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Steps to Show “Where The Money Goes”
Maximizing Existing Resources – June 2007– The Comptroller’s office created a new Web presence for
“Where the Money Goes” with: a glossary of state spending terms, additional information about state finances a list of ways state and federal government agencies were
working to save taxpayer dollars.
– A key component of the site was a simple drill-down Web application that allowed users to view state spending for all individual state agencies under broad spending categories for multiple fiscal years.
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Steps to Show “Where The Money Goes”
Fully Tapping the Power of Technology – October 2007
– House Bill 3430 called for an online state expenditure database – a virtual check register –by Oct. 1, 2007.
– The Comptroller’s office leveraged the procurement of a new business intelligence hardware and software solution already underway.
The cost for the detailed online expenditures database totaled $310,000 for programming the data warehouse and reporting tools.
– The new database was unveiled online on Oct. 1, 2007.
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Steps to Show “Where The Money Goes”
Looking to the Future – October 2007 to the present– A short survey was added to the site to inform us
of what people are looking for. – To help spread the word, the site is linked from all
other Texas State agency Web sites.
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How does the Statewide Expenditures system works?
State expenditures from State Treasury funds are produced via Comptroller statewide systems
– provides immediate access to agency payment information.
Expenditure data is extracted from the statewide accounting system daily
Confidential payment information is filtered out and the information is made available for public access.
This is all designed to happen daily prior to 6 a.m.
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Level of Detail Tracked
24 agencies have data down to the individual item level, such as pencils (same as NIGP code).
We have contacted other agencies and found many lack an automated purchasing system or their system does not track at the NIGP code level.
System changes would be required for all agencies to track the NIGP codes.
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Where the Money Goes
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Where the Money Goes
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Where the Money Goes
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Where the Money Goes
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Where the Money Goes
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Keys to Success
Start with the information you have– Transparency does not have to be all or nothing.– The Comptroller’s office started by posting its own expenditures
via a simple Web page. Invite others
– Encourage other state entities to shine the light on state spending by doing their part to provide information.
Look closely at your existing resources– The Comptroller’s office was able to repurpose an in-house
application to provide a useful drill-down application online. Leverage your technology solutions
– We included the extensive and searchable online database as a deliverable on a much larger business intelligence hardware and software solution.
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Lessons Learned
Protecting confidential data is a big issue State agencies may need lead time to adapt to new
reporting environment Reconciliations can be cumbersome
– Original payment– Payment cancellations– Refunds– Credits– Coding errors
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Contact Information
Where the Money Goes– View the Texas Comptroller’s “Where the Money Goes”
state spending search tools at www.window.state.tx.us/wherethemoneygoes or contact us at (800) 531-5441, ext. 3-4070.
Suzy Whittenton– Director of Fiscal Management
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts– (512) 463-1917– [email protected]