Beaufort County launches online transparency tool

A new online program is designed to help Beaufort County residents keep track of how public funds are spent and where they come from.

On Monday, county officials announced Citizen Transparency, a tool that allows computer users to search, sort through, analyze and download the county's financial information.

"The introduction of the Citizen Transparency website means that citizens can now more easily access and search Beaufort County's financial records," county administrator Gary Kubic said in a news release.

"We are proud to be able to provide access to this kind of detailed information, which promotes public trust and government accountability."

Tyler Technologies, the county's financial software provider, developed the website, openbooks.tylertech.com/beaufort. It also can be accessed from the county's website at bcgov.net.

Though annual and quarterly budget reports, as well as vendor payment reports and department budgets, have long been available on the county's website, the new program will be updated weekly with most recent figures, the release said.

Users will be able to review total spending to date, examine how funds are appropriated by department, see which vendors receive payments in a given year, or research spending for any area, including non-tax dollar expenditures, the release said.

Data is also available for the past two fiscal years.

County Council and staff began discussing the program last year during budget discussions. Officials say it will boost financial transparency and be more convenient for residents, but also reduce staff time and costs in regard to record requests.

The tool is the latest county endeavor aimed at increasing financial transparency.

This month, new county treasurer Maria Walls unveiled a website that includes an interactive graph that will track the money her office collects in taxes on a monthly basis each fiscal year and break down how all of it is used.

So far, the last five years of data is available on the site, which was designed by local firm Hazel Digital Media. It also includes online forms for taxpayers, frequently asked questions and instructional videos.