COST: Colorado Spending Transparency

http://transparency.i2i.org/

No taxation without information! That’s our motto here at CoST — Colorado Spending Transparency. While we wish we had thought of it, credit has to go to the Sam Adams Alliance. However, we will make it famous. Spending transparency is simply common courtesy. If government is going to take our money then it should tell us how our money is being spent. It’s our mission to get the state of Colorado, all municipalities, counties and school districts to put their check registries online, in a searchable database. We want to know where all the money goes and not just from some annual report that is long on numbers but short on specifics. We believe taxpayers have a right to know where and how every single dime of their money is being spent. This is not secret information. In fact, check registries and copies of checks are a matter of public record, but why should a taxpayer have to go to the herculanean task of submitting a Colorado Open Record Act (CORA) request, which may or may not be honored, and then be subjected to fees of anywhere from a few to a few thousand dollars just to get information on how his or her tax dollars are being spent? They shouldn’t. At a time when so many have lost faith in their government, politicians should show faith in the taxpayers by providing an online searchable spending database that includes all revenue, expenditures and contracts. Remember: No taxation without information!

$55 per hour for transparency

August 19, 2009

"Transparency shouldn’t cost this much. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay anything to see how their money is being spent.

Independence Institute investigative reporter and CompleteColorado.com editor Todd Shepherd discusses how one government entity wants to charge him $55 per hour to fulfill his Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request."

Jeffco sets standard on transparency

July 20, 2009

"COST wants to thank Jefferson County for being “one of only a handful of Colorado government entities to post line-item expense account charges, contracts and the county’s checkbook. All the information is in a searchable database available to anyone with access to the Web,” according to Charley Able from the Lakewood Edge."

Budget shortfall another reason for transparency

July 2, 2009

"A reporter asked Colorado Transparency Project Director Amy Oliver Cooke, a member of the Colorado Long Term Economic Stability Commission, if real cuts in spending need to be made in Colorado’s budget where would she make them? She answered,

CSU spends $60,000 on food

June 9, 2009

"According to a recent article in the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Colorado State University “workers with university-issued purchasing cards spent more than $60,000 on everything from pizzas, coffee and bottled water to steak, seafood and sushi — all in a single month.”"

Underwhelming no-bid contract database

May 28, 2009

"Remember Amendment 54 Clean Government Colorado? It was the 2008 successful ballot initiative that forbids holders of no-bid government contracts of $100,000 or more from making political contributions for two years. Ever since its passage, special interest groups with no-bid contract that donate millions of dollars to issue and candidate campaigns have been whining about a violation of their free speech."

"Trust us"

August 11, 2009

"“..we are a board very concerned about transparency and oversight — about letting our constituency know what it is we are doing,” Greeley Evans District 6 school board member Judy Kron said at a meeting last night.

Really?"

Coloradans getting stimulus money doesn't add up

July 14, 2009

"COST loves summer! We don’t have to track bills at the state capitol or remind legislators about how they are voting for special interests over taxpayers. Summer gives us time to do fun things like poke around Governor Bill Ritter’s status report on our “stimulus” dollars, a.k.a. your hard-earned tax dollars — more like your children and grandchildren’s hard-earned tax dollars, at work in Colorado."

COST would have done it for free

June 16, 2009

"COST actually agrees with State Senate President Brandon Shaffer. The Democrat legislative committee chairs desperately need some training on how to treat the public!

In an article explaining how Shaffer spent $4300 in taxpayer money to pay for a Democrats-only retreat, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Shaffer ”organized the retreat partly because of complaints about committee chairs being disrespectful to the public and other lawmakers. All committee chairs are Democrats since the party controls the Senate as well as the House.”"

Tax increase tough without transparency

June 1, 2009

"Greeley Evans District Six, the largest Colorado school district ever to be placed on accreditation watch, wants more money. According to the Greeley Tribune the district is asking for a mill levy override to fund $32 million in various projects."

Blocking transparency

May 21, 2009

"During the last legislative session, COST came to realize that anti-transparency forces not only exist but they work very hard to block the sunshine on government. We exposed how lobbyists, State Controller David McDermott, some legislators, school administrators and Governor Bill Ritter all tried to kill transparency legislation."

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