Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim joined Connecticut Comptroller Kevin Lembo Thursday to unveil "OpenBridgeport" – an online portal through which the public can search real-time city financial information.
The information includes every line item in the city budget broken down into revenues and expenditures, and specific dollar amounts for how much the city is paying outside vendors for services, according to Ganim.
The links to "OpenBridgeport" are: Open Budget - https://bridgeportct.budget.socrata.com and Open Checkbook: https://bridgeportct.spending.socrata.com.
"OpenBridgeport" is modeled after the state's "OpenConnecticut" website that Lembo launched in 2013 that publishes the state's financial information. OpenBridgeport enables users to explore financial information including how much the city spends on its various services and how much was paid to individual vendors.
It also shows how much the city budgeted for services, and how spending is trending throughout the fiscal year and in comparison to other years, according to Ganim.
"Now it's up to the public – as well as policymakers – to dive into this data, take advantage of this open door and become even more engaged in government," said Lembo.
