BRADENTON, Fla. - Miami has rolled out a new transparency initiative to make financial data publicly available.
The city established a new user-friendly platform
The platform transforms volumes of raw spreadsheet budget data into highly visual interactive charts and graphs that provide better understanding of the city's budget, according to the city.
The release announcing the new budget platform made no reference to Miami's disclosure-related legal troubles with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"Taxpayers now have unprecedented access to the budget and the city's financial data in an intuitive format that clearly shows how their money is collected and spent," said city manager Daniel Alfonso. "We are acting upon our strategic plan to make the city of Miami more accessible, efficient, and transparent."
The OpenGov platform is part of a broader transparency initiative to make the city's financial, operating, and performance information available and easily accessible to the public, he said.
In early December, the city released a three-year strategic plan outlining priority goals and strategies to improve communications and guide resource allocation decisions.
The SEC filed suit against the Miami and Michael Boudreaux, the city's former budget director, in July 2013.
The suit, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, charged the city and Boudreaux with securities fraud for making faulty disclosures in connection with three 2009 bond offerings totaling $153.5 million.
The SEC claims that beginning in 2008, the city made "materially false and misleading statements and omissions" about interfund transfers to cover up a growing general fund deficit and get more favorable bond ratings for 2009 offerings.
The SEC also charged Miami with violating a cease-and-desist order that was imposed on the city in 2003 for similar misconduct, making it the first municipality to allegedly violate such an order.
The suit has been delayed while Boudreaux has sought to appeal rulings that denied his bid to be considered immune from individual prosecution in the case by virtue of being a former city official.
The SEC is seeking financial penalties against Miami and Boudreaux.
