The City of Mansfield recently announced that the City’s Finance Department has partnered with Cloud-Based OpenGov.com to enable Mansfield residents and the public at large to view and track government spending. The technology provides users, both the public and government officials the ability to use existing reports available on the website or build specific reports on revenue and expenses that may be of particular interest.It is very interactive, for example, searches can be done for a certain vendor or transaction through the checkbook report.
Finance Director Linn Steward, CPA initiated the partnership to make Mansfield’s finances easily accessible and understandable. “When first elected my primary goal as Finance Director was to improve Mansfield’s Financial Sustainability. This is accomplished by developing and following sound financial policies and spending plans. Increasing transparency by providing open access to everything we do allows the public to be part of the process. They can see all of our revenue from taxes to fees generated and follow the money to see how and where it is spent.”
The platform also allows residents to view current year monthly financial reports, the annual budget, budget-to-actual spending, and five years of history of revenue and expenditures. “It is just the raw data exported out of our financial software” Steward said.
Nick Neuerer, the Assistant Finance Director and implementation leader believes such technology builds greater trust in government. “Our hope is as our residents use this site they will be more engaged with our City leaders and officials”.
Staff from the Finance Department will provide Mansfield City Council Members an overview demonstration of the platform during the Council Meeting on Tuesday August 15th at 6:25 pm. Public attendance is welcome.
The public is invited to explore the Financial Transparency platform found on the main page of the City of Mansfield web site. To access the site, visit: www.ci.mansfield.oh.us and click on the “Financial Transparency” link in the left menu.
