Diggs Brown was able to pull it off in Fort Collins.
Last month, City Councilmember Diggs Brown started asking questions ... spending questions. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get some simple questions answered. So he set out to change the city's expenditure reporting system. He did his own research, put together a proposal, and within a few days had presented—and passed—NoCOST, the Northern Colorado Spending Transparency act. By June 2009, Fort Collins residents will have a way to keep track of how government spends their money. The program will cost less than $10,000 to implement and will most likely pay for itself as ordinary residents help identify cost savings. City contracts that go out to bid will now have greater competition and lower costs: vendors and suppliers will be able to compete for contracts in a transparent marketplace.
“The citizens have a right to know how tax dollars are being spent,” Brown said. “After all, it's their money. Taxpayers need to be confident that there is a high level of transparency and accountability in their municipal government.”
Now Rep. Don Marostica and Sen. Mike Kopp want every citizen in the state to be able to serve as a spending watchdog.
For those of you who have a lot of time on your hands – and we mean A LOT of time – state Sen. Mike Kopp has the bill for you.
Kopp and state Rep. Don Marostica, both Republicans, plan to introduce a bill this year to put the state budget in all its dense, wonky glory online. Residents who are so inclined could click around in the budget to find examples of waste or places where the state could save money.
“The idea behind the bill is to let every citizen become an auditor of the state budget,” Kopp said.
