1. WHAT DOES OPEN GOVERNMENT MEAN
TO YOU?
Transparency Action Plan 2011 Summit
Pilot Project: Budget
Saturday, July 30, 2011
The Levin Forum Atrium
Jill Miller Zimon
Writes Like She Talks: writeslikeshetalks.com
In The Arena: jillmillerzimon.blogspot.com
jillzimon@mac.com

2. WHY DOES BUDGET
TRANSPARENCY MATTER?

3. YOUR EXPERIENCE:
What have you…
• WANTED
• FOUND
• ASKED FOR
• RECEIVED
• UNDERSTOOD

4. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM BUDGET TRANSPARENCY?
November 11, 2009, excerpt:
Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic is hoping to employ the power of the World
Wide Web to solve some of the city's and his image problems.
…
The new feature puts the information in one place and also allows
computer users to access annual, quarterly and monthly data on what
the city government spends and what it takes in.
''I'm tired of the insinuations and accusations being thrown around that
we're hiding information,'' Plusquellic said. ''Most of the information
already was available, but now it's all consolidated into one place and
people will be able to find it easier.''
The mayor said this also should silence critics who say the city is not
willing to share such information.
''We have nothing to hide. All of our financial information will be available
at the touch of a computer,'' he said. ''We are making absolutely certain
that no one can say we aren't providing information.''
From Akron Beacon Journal, http://www.ohio.com/news/akron-opens-books-on-web-1.108575

5. WHAT DO YOU WANT
FROM THIS SESSION?
Image from scenecycle.com: Image of the Modomyth
http://www.scenecycle.com/?page_id=61

6. GETTING TO KNOW BUDGETS

7. BUDGET COMPONENTS
• Expenses
• Revenues
• Forecasting

8. STAKEHOLDERS
• Taxpayers
• Employees
• Electeds
• Community-at-large
• Vendors
• Who else?

9. CURRENT STATE OF
BUDGET TRANSPARENCY

10. CUYAHOGA COUNTY
Where to go:
http://fiscalofficer.cuyahogacounty.us/en-US/office-
budget-management.aspx
What you can see there (all in pdf):
o Financial Reports
o Budget Highlights
o Where County Dollars Come From
o Where County Dollars Are Spent

11. AKRON OPEN BOOKS ONLINE
Where to go:
http://www.ci.akron.oh.us/finance/Default.asp
What you can see there:
• Annual Reporting
• Quarterly Reporting
• Monthly Reporting
* Local Government Revenue Comparison
Funds supplied by State of Ohio in support of public safety
* Monthly Income Tax Report to Akron City Council
* Monthly Property Tax Report to Akron City Council
• Daily Reporting
* Daily Income Tax Receipts (246k pdf)
Filed at 4 p.m. each business day
* Daily All Taxes Report (42k pdf)
Includes personal property, Income Tax, JEDD taxes & TIF

12. STATE GOVERNMENT
• Where to go:
http://obm.ohio.gov/
• What you’ll see:
Clickable links to budget documents
• Better resource (dashboard, TOC)
http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Ohio_state_budget

13. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
• Where to go:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/
• What you can see there:
Current & previous budgets as databases
Sidebar tools to search budget(s)
Other economic information & resources

14. TRANSPARENCY ACTION PLAN:
Next Steps
• Goal to Accomplish (Outcome We Want)
• Steps to Accomplish Goal
– What we must do
– What we can seek from allies, stakeholders
• Timeframe for Accomplishment

15. THANK YOU FOR CARING!
Jill Miller Zimon
Writes Like She Talks: writeslikeshetalks.com
In The Arena: jillmillerzimon.blogspot.com
jillzimon@mac.com