Howard Greninger
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Indiana residents can now search state contracts, employee salaries, budget information, revenue and expense data, local government information and more online at a new state “transparency website.”
“We brought together a lot of information that has been available that many taxpayers didn’t know where to find or how to find into a single one-stop location. It provides greater transparency, but also greater understanding of how tax dollars are being spent,” said state Auditor Tim Berry in a stopover Wednesday at Ivy Tech Community College. The site is www.transparency.in.gov.
“It is not the state’s money. It is taxpayers’ money and as a result taxpayers should have access to how dollars are being spent and how those resources are being utilized,” Berry said.
The state site was created and is being maintained by the Indiana Office of Management & Budget, the State Auditor’s Office and the Indiana Office of Technology.
The state auditor said the site went live Tuesday morning. Berry said most of the early hits on the site were from state government offices as people checked on salaries. The site shows salaries for each state agency.
Salaries for state legislators show total compensation for the previous year. Examples include state Rep. Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute, at $56,480 and Rep. Vern Tincher, D-Riley, at $59,327. Other examples are state Sen. Tim Skinner, D-Terre Haute, at $58,754 or Sen. John Waterman, R-Shelburn, at $59,975 or Jeffrey Papa, chief of staff and chief legal counsel for the Indiana Senate at $153,806.
Other salaries listed are annualized amounts from the most recent payroll, such as Gov. Mitch Daniels, listed at $94,999, while Ernest Yelton, a former Clay County judge, and current executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission is listed at $127,437. Indiana State Police Officer Joseph Watts II was listed at $66,500.
“It is the first compilation of all of this information,” Berry said. “It is not just a static location. Payroll information is updated weekly and we have many things coming soon.
“During the fourth quarter, a full compilation of expenditures will be available in a searchable format. If you want to see how much a certain vendor has received from a state agency, you can do that,” Berry said. “Also, program performance results will be available in the first quarter of next year.”
Berry said people can look at charts displaying cash reserves and expenditures as well as general fund or annual financial reports, plus state employee trends or spending from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“You can look at charts to see where the state general fund appropriations go, such as 49 percent of the general fund appropriation goes to [funding] K-12 [education], with higher education accounting for about 12 percent, which is the next-largest portion of allocations within the general fund. Medicaid is another 11 percent,” Berry said.
In addition, the site shows local government annual financial reports.
Berry said he hopes to get public feedback on the site, which has a “button” for people to provide comments.
“What we really want is feedback. We want to know from Hoosier taxpayers what do they want to find out, what do they want to know about their tax dollars,” Berry said.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
