Saturday, August 15, 2009

City will consider posting expenses on the Internet

(From the Georgetown Times, Aug. 13)


By Scott Harper
sharper@gtowntimes.com


How much did the City of Georgetown spend at Wal Mart last month?

How about at Food Lion or on postage stamps?

Those are questions anyone with access to a computer will be able to find out if City Councilman Paige Sawyer has his way.

Sawyer is asking the city to consider a program already in place in Charleston and soon to be up and running in Surfside Beach.

The idea is to place a register of every check written by the city online so they can be reviewed by the public.

So far, Charleston is the largest city in the state to place its checkbook register online.
Locally, Sawyer has asked the matter to be placed on the City Council agenda for Thursday's meeting. It will be discussed then.

State Comptroller Richard Eckstrom has been urging local governments to post such information online, to increase government transparency.

"By voluntarily posting their individual expenditures on their Web site for all to see, they are sending the message that people deserve easy, no-cost access to how their tax dollars are spent," Eckstrom said.

Sawyer said the city placing the information online would be the appropriate thing to do.
"The citizens ought to be able to see where the money is spent," he said.

City Administrator Chris Eldridge said the endeavor could lead to confusion and misinformation since receipts will not be included in the information posted.
All people will see, he said, is the amount spent. They will not see an item-by-item listing of what was bought with the money.

"I really don't know how much it will tell the public," he said.

Sawyer said the remedy to that is if anyone sees a check and they would like more information about the purchase, they can issue a Freedom of Information request for the receipts.

Eldridge also said the city writes up to 200 checks each week.

An employee would have to spend valuable time scanning each one of the registers into the computer so it can be posted.

Sawyer said that may be a problem at first but "once it's up and running it should get easier."
To see how the program works, visit the Comptroller's Website -- www.cg.sc.gov -- and click on Local Government Spending Transparency.

That will take you to the Web sites of the places already placing the information online.

$480 million in 'stimulus' so far

By Richard Eckstrom
Comptroller General

At the recent meeting of the S.C. Stimulus Oversight Task Force, I was pleased to introduce state Treasurer Converse Chellis as a co-chairman. Treasurer Chellis was chosen by the state legislature this summer to join me in heading up the task force, which is charged with accounting for federal “stimulus” dollars to ensure they are not misused.

I had previously asked state Superintendent of Education Jim Rex and state Medicaid director Emma Forkner to help co-chair the committee, and I am grateful for their efforts.
To date, South Carolina programs and agencies have received slightly more than $480 million in stimulus money. Agencies that have received the money are:

-- Department of Health and Human Services, $312 million
-- Employment Security Commission, $68 million
-- Department of Social Services, $42 million
-- Department of Public Safety, $23 million
-- Department of Education, $17 million
-- Governor’s Office, $12 million
-- Department of Commerce, $3 million
-- Department of Health and Environmental Control, $2 million
-- Lt. Governor’s Office on Aging, $222 thousand
-- Department of Transportation, $24 thousand

The Stimulus Oversight Task Force consists of more than 40 volunteers, mainly from state agencies which will receive the funds.

You’re probably aware that there is a wide range of views on the stimulus package. The White House argued that the stimulus was needed to quickly create jobs, and that the economy would immediately begin improving if Congress passed it. None of that has happened. Frankly, I believe there’s far too much wasteful spending in the stimulus package -- things that have nothing to do with improving the economy, like $50 million to endow the arts and $16 million to preserve the habitat of a kind of mouse in San Francisco.

But whether or not you like the stimulus, one thing is clear: There’s absolutely no money for any of this. We’re spending borrowed money, and we’re saddling future generations -- our children and grandchildren -- with unparalleled debt.

It’s because future generations will be repaying this debt that we have an obligation to closely follow the stimulus money to see that it’s spent as intended and to reduce the risk of fraud or waste.

Regardless of one’s personal opinion on the stimulus, South Carolinians can be sure accountability measures are in place, and that the Stimulus Oversight Task Force will provide much needed scrutiny as billions of dollars flow into South Carolina. I will continue to issue regular reports, such as this one, to keep citizens as informed as possible.