Indiana LaunchesTransparency Website

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 2:00 PM by Lauren Forbes

After discussions over the summer on the need for greater transparency in Indiana, the state has finally launched a state spending portal which provides taxpayers with facts and figures on state government revenue, spending and salaries. The site, which went live yesterday, accessible at transparency.in.gov, features charts of state spending with links to budget documents and also provides the sources from where Indiana gets its revenue, details how the state has used federal stimulus funds and links to all state contracts. With a click of a mouse, Indiana taxpayers can also see how much money any state employee earns. By the end of the year the state Auditor, Tim Berry,  expects the site to post annual financial reports from all local governments and allow users to search all expenses by state agency. Barry also dialed in on why transparency is so important:

It's vital for government to be transparent and accountable because it isn't the state's money, it is taxpayer money, and Hoosiers deserve to have the best tools available to know how their dollars are being spent."

While we look forward to more detail and greater access to state spending for Indiana taxpayers, we applaud the state for taking this important step forward in spending transparency. We hope all state expenses are online soon so Hoosiers can track, dollar for dollar, where their tax dollars are going.

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