The Full Monty on Your Tax Dollars

Kentucky state government has dropped its checkbook trousers and you can see it all with the click of a mouse.

On Jan. 1, 2009, Kentucky started the New Year with a Web site that provides citizens access to all state expenditures and other vital information about state-funded programs. The new Web site’s address is www.opendoor.ky.gov.

“In today’s difficult economic times, it is even more important for government to be transparent and accountable, and for citizens to feel confident that their tax dollars are being used efficiently and responsibly,” said Gov. Steve Beshear. “I’m proud of our administration’s efforts, along with the bipartisan support of all of the state’s executive branch constitutional officers, to put our checkbooks online for public view in such a comprehensive and user-friendly manner.”

SNIP

Some of the features found on the site include:

• Your Money: A section with dozens of helpful charts, graphs and descriptions that summarize state revenues, expenditures and budget priorities.
• Cabinet/Agency Search: A search engine that provides agency-by-agency data on state expenditures.
• Budget Basics: A tutorial that allows the average citizen to log on and find out basic information on state expenditures, revenues and how budgets are developed.
• Budgeting for Kids: A fully interactive children’s section that offers games, cartoons and interactive lessons on budgets and government finance.
• Vendor Income and Expense Watch (V.I.E.W.): A pioneering effort by Treasurer Todd Hollenbach that allows citizens to search all of the state’s vendor and contractor data.
• Links, links and more links: Providing taxpayers easy access to state audits, investments, tax incentives, election finances and more.

It's nowhere near perfect, particularly in its lack of a google-like search function. And some expenditure totals can appear misleading to those unfamiliar with a particular agency's budget needs.

But Open Door offers more information far more easily than ever before.

Click on and dig in. On the Contact Page there's a place to send suggestions for new features.