Randall Woodfin delivers another campaign promise, increases administration’s transparency

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Randall Woodfin
[Photo Credit: Randall Woodfin on Facebook]

In a day and age where political candidates across the country espouse the importance of transparency, very few actually follow through with their ideas when they get in office.

During his campaign for mayor Randall Woodfin made a bevy of promises to the people of Birmingham to revitalize the city and help restore trust in local government. Many of the promises he said he would accomplish within his first 100 days in office. While he missed the mark on completing them all within the first 100 days, he’s still following through and completing his many promises.

On Tuesday, the Mayor’s office announced the completion of another campaign promise to promote transparency and accountability by introducing the Open Checkbook portal on the city’s website.

The Open Checkbook documents Birmingham’s budgeting and expenditures dating back to fiscal year 2009. The portal consists of nearly a million pieces of data per fiscal year.

“The Open Checkbook portal is helping us uphold our campaign promise of a transparent government,” Woodfin said. “I encourage everyone to visit the portal and see exactly how we’re directing our resources to make Birmingham stronger.”

Visitors can view four separate reports:

  1. The Annual Report provides the amount of money allocated to each department in the City of Birmingham for each fiscal year.
  2. The Budget to Actual Report shows the money budgeted for each department and how much money was spent on each department for every fiscal year.
  3. Neighborhood Allocations allows visitors to view all money allocated to each neighborhood association for all 99 neighborhoods.
  4. Transaction Report details all individual transactions made from each department, with detailed descriptions.

To access the portal, visit birminghamal.gov. Find the Open Data portal on the top menu bar, then click Transparency.