Monthly Budgetary Expenditures [S.L. 2015-241, Sec. 7.17

Regarding S.L. 2015-241, Sec. 7.17

In its 2015 session the General Assembly adopted language in the budget bill that concerns transparency with regards to local government finance. The legislation directs the State CIO to coordinate with counties, cities and local education agencies (school boards) to facilitate implementation of the requirements of the adopted legislation. It further directs these same entities to work with the State Controller and the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) to

ensure that timely information is provided as directed by the State CIO. Finally, the LGC staff is to work with the State CIO to post data to our website that allows comparisons between the local entities providing data under this legislation. All websites are to be in place by April 1, 2016.

Our staff has met with OSBM, the State CIO, and our IT staff to determine the best approach to implementing the requirements of this legislation. We are starting out with the data that is already available from each local entity through annual audits, the AFIR, and reports to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). While we encourage all efforts to make government more transparent, we are not advising local entities to make significant changes at this time to their websites or data presentation methods for the sole purpose of meeting the requirements of this legislation. As we continue to work with the appropriate state agencies we will keep you informed of any action needed on your part. If you have questions please contact us at (919) 814-4299.