Eyes on public spending

(Editorial re-published from the Feb. 25 edition of the Charleston Post & Courier.)

Washington is embarking on a record spending spree aimed at stimulating the economy and saving the banking industry. Considering the immense stakes, taxpayers must know how that money will be used. President Barack Obama, during Tuesday night's speech to Congress, again acknowledged the federal government's responsibility to provide that information.

That obligation extends to all spending by all levels of government — especially in these tough times when every dollar is precious. And in our state, encouraging progress is being made toward such full transparency and accountability.

For instance, anyone who is interested can make a few clicks on the computer and find out how much the state Higher Education Commission spent on copying equipment in June or how much the Department of Commerce spent on foreign travel in September.

It should be just as easy to find out about local government spending, and Richard Eckstrom is trying to make that happen. As state "watchdog," Comptroller General Eckstrom has been a crusader for transparency in government.

His first attempts to convince state agencies and departments to submit spending data for the Website were unsuccessful. Administrators said they lacked sufficient staff for the task and projected high costs for gathering the data.

So Mr. Eckstrom and his staff did it themselves. The total cost, he says, was less than $20,000 for some computer programs and a little extra staff time.

The resulting Website, www.cg.sc.gov, is easy to access, and you don't have to be an accountant to understand the data.

Click on any of the 80-plus state agencies (cabinet or non-cabinet), the time period (year or month) and even the category (travel, supplies, photographic services and the like). Data is updated regularly.

Last year, Mr. Eckstrom tried to expand the Website to include data about spending by cities, towns, counties, public service districts and school districts.

Again, he got excuses: Publishing that information would inspire too many queries from the public; gathering it would take too much time and money; or they simply didn't think they were obliged to do so.

The Legislature has considered a bill that would have required local governments to put their spending on-line. It failed, but Mr. Eckstrom hopes a similar bill introduced in the House last month will succeed this session.

During unremarkable times, citizens have a right to know how public dollars are spent. During extraordinary times like these, with state and local governments slashing budgets and citizens questioning the decisions, there is even more reason to be transparent.

Mr. Eckstrom recently wrote in The Post and Courier, "Too often, tax dollars are spent under a shroud of secrecy, and decisions which affect your family are made out of public view."

It stands to reason that public agencies are far more accountable when their spending is done in the open. Governments that handle the public's business should welcome the opportunity to show the taxpayers where their money's going. Those that refuse just might have something to hide.