Public Interest Institute works to focus on issues pertaining to transparency and specifically tries to focus on Iowa issues. In December of 2014, we reported on the status of the state of Iowa’s specially developed transparency Website. We were glad to report that Iowa was officially at an “A-.” This month we are looking at the issue of transparency in relationship to the county Websites and how well they are disseminating information by electronic form.

We are reporting on the project Ballotpedia.org has done with all 99 counties in Iowa:

(ballotpedia.org/Counties_in_Iowa)

The Ballotpedia Website talks about how taxpayers should be able to tell from their county’s Website if the county government is effective, competent, frugal with tax dollars, and in compliance with all expectations and relevant laws about public records and open meeting laws.

The criteria were outlined on a “transparency checklist” on the Ballotpedia Website. The following are the ten categories Ballotpedia is looking at when they examine a Website:

Budget – The county website should include comprehensive budget information.

County government meetings/agendas – The county’s website should disclose all county government meetings and agendas.

Elected officials and elections – The county’s website should disclose key information about the county’s elected officials.

Administrative officials – The county’s website should disclose key information about the county’s appointed administrators such as their names, titles, and contact information, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

Building permits and zoning – The building permit and zoning applications should be available for download online. In addition, constituents should be able to submit applications and track the process online.

Audits (financial/performance) – If the county conducts financial and management audits to ensure that it is operating in accordance with the highest standards of financial and management competence and integrity, theses audits should be available on the website.

Contracts – The county’s website should provide comprehensive information about the contracts it enters into with vendors.

Lobbying/advocacy – If the unit of government belongs to any government sector lobbying associations that it helps to fund by paying association or membership dues, that information should be disclosed on the government agency’s website.

Local taxes – The website should include a central location for all tax information, including state fees such as drivers’ licenses, tax documents for all elected officials, and each agency’s sources of revenue.

Public records – The website should include the name of the person who is in charge of fulfilling open records requests, along with contact information.

If you take the time to visit the Website you would see that we have a couple counties that have worked hard to increase transparency at the county level such as Johnson and Scott Counties, but we have many counties that have a long way to go to increase transparency at the county level.

Given that our state has risen to an “A-,” how can we have such low scores for our county governments? I think that it is time for our counties to focus on increasing access to information, especially since this is the level of government that people interact with the most. I would encourage everyone to take the time to visit Ballotpedia.org and check the transparency score for government agencies in your area. Also, if you feel the score is wrong Ballotpedia asks that you contact them at sunshine@ballotpedia.org and request a new evaluation to keep their records up to date.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Public Interest Institute. They are brought to you in the interest of a better informed citizenry.

Jennifer L. Crull is IT Specialist at the Public Interest Institute in Mount Pleasant.