With just a click of a button, you can see city officials’ salaries
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BOISE — City officials’ pay rates are now visible to everyone.
Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf wanted to build trust in government, so he put together the Transparent Idaho website to provide financial information across the state.
The goal of Transparent Idaho is to increase citizen engagement, provide accountability, catch fraud and help policymakers by providing data they can trust to make wise data-driven decisions.
Idaho has 44 counties, 198 cities, 193 school districts and charter schools, and more than 800 taxing districts. Transparent Idaho is one spot to see all of the financial information.
“The vision I had was, ‘How can we make it so there’s one portal or one place to go to that you could look up all of that information?’ So that’s why we wanted to take Transparent Idaho to be able to be that spot,” Woolf said.
Woolf launched the first Transparent Idaho website in 2013. At first, all of the information was available in PDFs. Information not available on the site had to be requested in a public records request.
An updated version launched in 2019 with interactive information. Rather than just showing the raw data, the site provides data summaries and visualizations as well.
The latest version includes city information for the first time. Type in a city to see the budget, revenue, expenditures, fund balance, documents and salaries.
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“A government’s foundation is the trust of its citizens. This new city page is a game-changer, making city data more accessible than ever. In the past, citizens had to navigate a complex public records request process to gain insights. Now, this user-friendly interface empowers everyone to easily compare data across cities and see exactly how their tax dollars are spent,” said Woolf.
The State Controller’s Office also provides Townhall Idaho, an extension of Transparent Idaho, which allows the public to search for information about all state agencies and state-affiliated commissions’ public meetings. No local government entities’ meeting notices are currently displayed on the site.
Contracts and agreements for state agencies are available at Transparency Resources. This is in accordance with House Bill 97, which requires agencies to submit a list of all agreements within 10 days of entering the agreement.
“We have almost 2 million residents here in Idaho, so we ought to have almost 2 million auditors that can go take a look and see what’s taking place,” Woolf said.
The State Controller’s Office partnered with In Time Tech, headquartered in Idaho, to develop the new interface with the goal to dispaly information in a clear, easy-to-use and navigable manner.
“Transparency isn’t just about providing data; it’s about partnering with every level of government in building trust with our citizens,” said John Iasonides, deputy controller. “We’re grateful to the Association of Idaho Cities and the city leaders who contributed their efforts toward bringing this vision to life.”
For weekly Transparent Idaho tips, follow Woolf on Facebook, X or LinkedIn.