Phoenix Increases Transparency with Online Open Checkbook

The city’s Finance Department has launched Phoenix Open Checkbook, a web application to provide residents with information about city spending in an online website. The searchable format, available at phoenix.gov/finance and updated monthly, allows city purchases to be reviewed by department, vendor, and date; and can be downloaded as a report or Excel spreadsheet.. The checkbook-level expenditure information does not require users to read through individual contracts and is downloadable for data analysis.. The Phoenix Open Checkbook builds on several fiscal transparency measures, such as:. Zero-based budgeting Annual community budget hearings in each City Council district Online access to the Summary, Detail and Capital Improvement Program budget reports and the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Finance Department “Investor Information” webpage with in-depth financial reports, including a Financial Condition Report, the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and Bond Sales Official Statements and Continuing Disclosures The City Council approved a plan to redesign the phoenix.gov webpages using responsive web design so users can view pages on smart phones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers and all other web-enabled devices. The new design will be available in mid-2014. The Budget and Research Department redesigned the department’s website, phoenix.gov/budget to make it more user-friendly and transparent All Phoenix City Council meetings are televised live on PHX 11, phoenix.gov and the city’s Facebook page. Meetings are archived on phoenix.gov and on the city’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/cityofphoenixaz. Sunshine Review, a non-profit organization dedicated to state and local government transparency, recognized phoenix.gov with a 2012 Sunny Award for exceeding transparency standards for the content it provides to residents. This was the third year in a row Phoenix received the award and is one of only 214 jurisdictions out of 6,000 reviewed to be recognized.