Tilley: Making School & Local Government Expenses Easier To Review

One of the most important things that I believe is essential for democracy in our state and in our country is transparency. By making government more transparent average citizens and taxpayers will have better piece of mind that their elected officials are delivering on their promises made during a campaign.

This week we took a great step at increasing transparency in our state government. The two largest government entities under the umbrella of Missouri state government are counties and school districts. These entities have budgets that are sometimes millions of dollars and all of them receive revenue from local taxpayers. Because these entities are so large and receive such a large portion of their revenue from local taxpayers we felt it was important to provide people public access to the financial situation these entities are facing. Currently there is no easy way to get this information. The information is public, but incredibly hard to find.

As a result, this week we passed HB 139. This bill requires school districts and county governments to collect information that is already public and send it to the Missouri Accountability Portal at – http://mapyourtaxes.mo.gov/

Once this information is sent to the Portal, individuals will be able to search for all kinds of information as well as public employee salaries. In addition, an amendment was added that would require the Governor to disclose how much money he is spending on state travel and what the trips are for. Governor Nixon’s travel has come under great scrutiny lately when we found out he has spent nearly $400,000 in statewide travel since being in office. Aside from the staggering amount, some of the events he went to were sporting events and political events. While it is important for our Governor to be able to travel the state, especially in emergencies better transparency on this issue would also lead to more accountability.

Once this information is available on the internet, citizens will be able to hold their county and school district officials accountable for the decisions they make. We will also be able to keep a better eye on the Governor’s extensive travel habits and make sure they are appropriate. It’s your taxpayer money and you should have better access to how it is spent.

Also, researchers will be able to use the information to compare salaries across counties and school districts, as well as other data. This could help develop ideas to reduce costs and create more efficiency. Right now it’s hard to develop plans on how to save money on a state-wide level without easily knowing where it is all being spent and then is a step in the right direction.

In the meantime I would definitely encourage you to check out http://mapyourtaxes.mo.gov for more information.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve here in the House of Representatives. As always, I welcome your comments. You may reach me at 573-751-1488, send your e-mails to steven{dot}tilley{at}house{dot}mo{dot}gov or write to me at the Missouri House of Representatives, State Capitol, Room 308, Jefferson City, MO 65101.

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