Cayce Begins Putting Spending Details on the Internet
May 7, 2009
CAYCE, SC – May 7, 2009 – The City of Cayce has begun disclosing its spending details on the Internet for purchases ranging from tools and equipment to office supplies and utilities.
Citizens can now see how the city spends their tax dollars by visiting http://www.cityofcayce-sc.gov/financial_report.aspx, where the city is posting its monthly check register.
Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom commended the city for opening its books to the public. “By voluntarily posting their spending details on their Web site, Cayce City Council is helping usher in a new era of transparent government,” he said. “They’re demonstrating they understand it’s not their money they’re spending — it’s the people’s money. The city is a trail-blazer. It’s leading the way in showing how all government will eventually do business.”
Eckstrom, who last year created South Carolina’s spending transparency Web site for state agencies, is now working to persuade local governments to post their spending details on the Internet. On Feb. 3 he spoke to Cayce City Council about an initiative he is sponsoring to make local-government transparency as simple and inexpensive as possible by offering to host the information on his office’s Web site.
Eckstrom noted that Anderson County and the town of Irmo have begun hosting their check registers on the Internet. Irmo posts spending on the Comptroller General’s Web site, while Anderson and Cayce host the information on their own sites.
Eckstrom said all three governments are setting an example others should follow. “Spending transparency — letting citizens easily view how their hard-earned dollars are being used — is the watchdog that ensures more careful spending. Transparency makes government leaders more accountable, and helps build better public trust. In lean times such as these, when tax dollars are stretched and the demands on them increased, that’s especially important.”
