Financial Transparency in Government
Where does our money go exactly? If someone took 1/3 of your cash from your wallet before you left for work everyday, you would probably ask the same question and many do just that. Taxes and transparency in spending is becoming increasingly important in government administration - the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 is a prime example. While the answers are available by visiting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website, you cannot help but notice the challenge finding the right document and digesting the volume of financial data.
The challenge ahead is that some of the tools readily available are not being used to summarize financial data. For this data to be useful, the public must be able to digest the material more easily. Simple everyday solutions are available and should be implemented- the same time of solutions that help individuals review their personal budgets. To face this challenge head on, the OMB could further engage the public with services that meet the demands of everyday people - people that do not have the time to review 50 pages of financial data, but do have the curiousity about where taxes are being spent at a high level. Dashboard tools, such as the one posted below, present potential options for the public sector to engage the public and provide transparency. These types of tools should not be simply used as gold plating for existing financial systems; rather, they can be implemented to help serve the public's demand for transparency in public spending. What do you think?
