SAN FRANCISCO - California State Controller John Chiang unveiled a new website that lists more than 13 million fields of financial data for the state's cities and counties, including total debt authorized and outstanding.
The controller's office said the website is part of an ongoing effort to promote transparency in government.
"We're moving government accountability and transparency out of the analog dark ages into the digital era where information about how much your city or county is spending and borrowing is available with a keystroke," Chiang said in a statement. "By providing balance sheet details for every California municipality on one website and allowing users to slice and dice the information to spot trends and analyze spending, I hope to empower communities to become more involved in civic decision-making."
The website, ByTheNumbers.sco.ca.gov, launched Sept. 8 and provides financial information from fiscal year 2002-03 through 2012-13. The controller's office has been collecting and publishing this data in paper form since 1911.
California's 58 counties and more than 450 cities provided the information, which includes revenues, liabilities, assets, fund balances, and basic statistics about the municipality. The website allows users to download raw numbers, create charts, and search for other financial information.
The tool includes a "bond indebtedness" category which shows debt authorized, issued, outstanding, and any delinquent principal or interest amounts.
The League of California Cities, which saw a preview of the website ahead of its launch, said it "commends" the controller for finding a way to make important data more accessible and useful to taxpayers and local agencies.
"The Controller's announcement today of the ByTheNumbers website is an important and positive step forward in helping the public be more engaged in important policy decisions by their local governments," said Chris McKenzie, Executive Director of the League of California Cities.
After League staff previewed the website on Aug. 29, the Controller's office agreed to make various changes to the site, including making it clear on the home page of the website that the data posted has not yet been audited due to the filing requirements of state law.
Another idea that is being considered to make the tool more useful is to include adding demographic information for cities, according to the League.
Later this fall, the Controller will introduce major upgrades to the site that will include additional tools and features based on user feedback. It will also provide data for each of California's approximately 130 pension systems.
The pension data will include assets and liabilities, employer and employee contributions, benefit payments and administrative expenses, statistics on members, and return on investments and actuarial funding.
Depending on public interest, the controller's office said it could add data for preceding decades in future upgrades.
