Those who have been following our Government Checkbook database closely may have noticed that a new folder was added in the last week or so: County Checkbooks. As with the municipal checkbooks, Show-Me Institute researchers are in the process of asking every county in the state for a list of their transactions, the dates of those transactions, the county’s vendors, and related “checkbook” information so that the public can more easily see where their money is going.
After all, if government can spend your money, it should be able to account for it.
It’s appropriate for government at all levels to regularly provide expenditure information to the public, and to do so in a format that is easily searchable and accessible. Consistent with this objective, and as we have already done with the state’s spending, we are sharing a “portal” for Greene County, Missouri, using information provided to us by the County, free of charge. We hope this serves as a reasonable example for political subdivisions of what 21st-century governmental transparency can look like.
