PHILLIPSTON – The town wants to be transparent about its spending, so it has developed an online open checkbook on its website that details its expenses and where taxpayer money is going.
This, officials say, will create “open and transparent local government.”
“The board is committed to providing more information and transparency to residents and taxpayers about activities in town, and how town business is conducted,” said Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Flynn.
Residents will be able to access town spending information for the current fiscal year. The checkbook will show vendor payments, identify who has paid and when, how much was paid and the purpose of the payment. Flynn said residents can access the open checkbook by visiting the Selectboard’s page on the town website and clicking on the link, “Phillipston’s Open Checkbook.”
“This is the people’s money,” said Selectboard Chairman John Telepciak. “They have a right to see how it is being used.”
Each month, the town will update two reports on the open checkbook, the first being a detailed summary by each town department of expenses, Flynn said.
“It will show what was approved at Town Meeting, how much has been spent and how much remains in that budget item,” he said.
The second document will show a detailed report, by department, of every check that was issued that month, and every transfer of funds from each department.
“Again, it tells you how much was available, how much was spent and how much is remaining in that budget line item,” said Flynn.
The open checkbook has been live for a few weeks — after the town had been testing it out, Flynn said. The town’s summary expenditures and detailed expenditures are currently available on the website for July and August.
Selectboard Vice-chair Kim Pratt said the new tool is the perfect way to make government more transparent to taxpayers.
“People have been pretty interested in taking a look at it,” Flynn said. “It is something new, and they are curious to see what is exactly being shown there — it is important for people to know what is going on and how their tax dollars are spent.”