Taxpayers in Greeley will be happy to know that the city has placed online a wealth on information. On the city’s new transparency page visitors will find everything from the employee pay schedule to financial reports including the check registry. The city even included a link with information on [...]
Apparently three members of the Greeley Evans School District 6 school board still have little respect for taxpayers. According to the Greeley Tribune, in a split decision, the school board voted down a modest transparency proposal from new board member Brett Reese. Reese’s proposal would have required the district [...]
COST just discovered that Colorado’s Department of Human Services, on behalf of taxpayers, paid Radio Disney $1010 for “other marketing expenses.” COST has no idea what taxpayers received because the Web site provides no explanation.
[...]Governor Bill Ritter cuts funding for Higher Education and eliminates tax credits for seniors to balance Colorado’s budget. Yet according to the Associated Press, Ritter spends millions lobbying governmentfor programs taxpayers can’t afford. COST’s own Amy Oliver Cooke and champion of taxpayers Rep Kent Lambert are quoted in the article.
If taxpayers want [...]
Colorado’s Future, a group that wants to make the citizen’s initiative process more difficult, will be hosting a meeting in Greeley on December 1. According to Chairman Bob Tointon, some 500 community leaders and elected officials from the Greeley area have been invited to participate in the 3 hour meeting, [...]
Apparently the state provides $500 lunches and taxpayers don’t need to know about them according to State Controller David McDermott.
The Denver Post reports that State Rep. BJ Nikkel, sponsor of the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act, accuses McDermott of violating the spirit of the law, violating taxpayer trust and violating transparency.
It’s easy [...]
We’ve warned elected officials before. Oppose transparency, and pay a political price later. Transparency Czarina Amy Oliver Cooke reports that our predication came true as voters in Greeley Evans School District 6 overwhelming opposed 3A, a massive, forever property tax increase.
Ridiculous amounts of money and institutional support can’t overcome the will of voters who simply [...]
According to Governor Bill Ritter’s own transparency Web site TOP, the state paid $283,129.15 to Beaver Run Resort over the last two fiscal years (FY08-09 and FY09-10). Several state government departments including Education, Governor’s office, Higher Ed, Human Services, Judicial, Corrections, Public Safety, Health Care Policy and Financing, and Local [...]
COST learned that the $800,000 plus Colorado paid to the Bawmann Group on behalf of the Departments of Health Care Financing and Human Services was for marketing and not crisis communication. According to Brad Bawmann, head of the Bawmann Group, services provided, mostly to Human Services, included [...]
Transparency Czarina Amy Oliver Cooke showed COST, not one but two, very pretty, 4-color glossy brochures from the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF). Ms. Cooke received them when HCPF Director Joan Henneberry presented her “if money weren’t an object what would your department want” list to the Long [...]
My friend and colleague Ben DeGrow, blogger extraordinaire at Mount Virtus, asked his city council candidates about their stance on transparency at the local level. According to Ben, two agreed to allow their answers to be posted on his blog and those two candidates seem very supportive [...]
There is no guarantee that voters will reward a transparent government by approving a tax increase. But it sure is easier for any government to make its case for more money when it has shown taxpayers the respect they deserve by providing detailed financial transparency. With detailed, online financial transparency, government [...]
COST has been playing around on the Governor new transparency Web site TOP (Transparency Online Project). We found a lot of interesting things. Below are just a few.
According to our search of expenditures by department for FY 2009, state government departments spent $32,018, 031,398.93. That’s substantially more than the $18.7 billion that [...]“Why does Governor Ritter have to be dragged kicking and screaming into transparency?” asked our big boss Jon Caldara.
Investigative reporter Todd Shepherd exposed Ritter’s latest battle against transparency. Shepherd discovered that Ritter and his administration have virtually ignored a Governor Bill Owens executive order requiring that “all cabinet members [...]
Greeley Tribune publisher Bart Smith criticized taxpayers who demand more transparency in the face of 3A, a massive property tax increase for Greeley Evans School District 6. In an opinion editorial urging a yes vote, Smith reveals his own naive understanding of transparency in Colorado.
Others who say they want more transparency [...]
Joe Biden said the Obama stimulus is all about a three letter word: J-O-B-S.
Colorado’s share of the stimulus money, $819,313,005 spent thus far, has created 5232 jobs according to Governor Ritter’s report The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: What it means for Colorado. A closer look reveals that [...]
Let’s face it; we can put a man on the moon, bring down the evil empire, and cure diseases, but we cannot track $787 billion of taxpayer money.
Denver Post reporter Miles Moffeit reports that “despite federal lawmakers’ pledge of transparency, the final stages of most money trails, along with key [...]
Jefferson County Administrator Jim Moore is a bureaucrat on a seemingly impossible mission. He wants to re-establish trust between Jefferson County residents and their government. How? By being as open and transparent as possible. According to a blog post from Moore:
Complete and accurate information is the best antidote to the spin [...]
Governor Bill Ritter and Treasurer Cary Kennedy quietly launched the Transparency Online Project(TOPS). COST doesn’t believe that TOPS is what State Rep BJ Nikkel and transparency activists envisioned with HB 1288 the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act. According to a press release from the Governor’s office:
TOP sets a new standard for accountability, responsibility and [...]
The Governor’s latest shell game to balance the budget is yet another reason why Coloradans desperately need full transparency.
The state of Colorado isn’t really spending less money. According to Legislative Council staff the total FY 2009-2010 Colorado state budget will be just under $18.7 billion — and that’s after the ”cuts.” The total FY 08-09 budget [...]
Transparency shouldn’t cost this much. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay anything to see how their money is being spent.
Independence Institute investigative reporter and CompleteColorado.com editor Todd Shepherd discusses how one government entity wants to charge him $55 per hour to fulfill his Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request.
[...]“..we are a board very concerned about transparency and oversight — about letting our constituency know what it is we are doing,” Greeley Evans District 6 school board member Judy Kron said at a meeting last night.
Really?
Perhaps Kron should read COST. Then she would know that her fellow school board [...]
Boulder city government has an expanding waistline. The Daily Camera reports that “Boulder taxpayers shelled out more than $230,100 for government food last year, representing a 13 percent increase over 2007 and 19 percent over 2006 food expenses.”
The paper offered further explanation:
The costs are for a wide range of snacks [...]
COST wants to thank Jefferson County for being “one of only a handful of Colorado government entities to post line-item expense account charges, contracts and the county’s checkbook. All the information is in a searchable database available to anyone with access to the Web,” according to Charley Able from the [...]
COST loves summer! We don’t have to track bills at the state capitol or remind legislators about how they are voting for special interests over taxpayers. Summer gives us time to do fun things like poke around Governor Bill Ritter’s status report on our “stimulus” dollars, a.k.a. your hard-earned [...]
A reporter asked Colorado Transparency Project Director Amy Oliver Cooke, a member of the Colorado Long Term Economic Stability Commission, if real cuts in spending need to be made in Colorado’s budget where would she make them? She answered,
I don’t know because I don’t have specifics on where the state spends its money. That’s [...]
Technically the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights prevents lawmakers from raising taxes without a vote of the people. They can raise fees but fees are supposed to cover the cost of services provided only. And the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny are real.
Natalie Menten and Face the State cooperated to [...]
COST praised candidate Obama for his commitment to transparency, but as a president he has failed miserably. If the 1200 page Waxman-Markey global warming bill passes through Congress and the president signs it, he will once again break his pledge to be the most transparent administration. The legislation, which [...]
COST actually agrees with State Senate President Brandon Shaffer. The Democrat legislative committee chairs desperately need some training on how to treat the public!
In an article explaining how Shaffer spent $4300 in taxpayer money to pay for a Democrats-only retreat, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Shaffer ”organized the retreat partly because of complaints [...]
According to a recent article in the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Colorado State University “workers with university-issued purchasing cards spent more than $60,000 on everything from pizzas, coffee and bottled water to steak, seafood and sushi — all in a single month.”
Some of the expenditures were well justified by CSU [...]
Just minutes ago, Governor Bill Ritter quietly signed HB 1288 the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act.
[...]According to Face the State, Governor Bill Ritter today plans to sign HB 1288 the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act, which creates a state expenditure and revenue database, in private. Or will he? Sources tell COST that the Governor still is struggling with this legislation – apparently not enough to veto it. [...]
Candidate Barack Obama on Transparency:
Whether you believe Government ought to spend more or spend less or just spend differently, we all should be able to agree that Government spending should be transparent and that public information ought to be accessible to the public.
Following his Big Apple date night with [...]
Greeley Evans District Six, the largest Colorado school district ever to be placed on accreditation watch, wants more money. According to the Greeley Tribune the district is asking for a mill levy override to fund $32 million in various projects.
With a bad economy, a mill levy override is going [...]
Remember Amendment 54 Clean Government Colorado? It was the 2008 successful ballot initiative that forbids holders of no-bid government contracts of $100,000 or more from making political contributions for two years. Ever since its passage, special interest groups with no-bid contract that donate millions of dollars to issue and [...]
During the last legislative session, COST came to realize that anti-transparency forces not only exist but they work very hard to block the sunshine on government. We exposed how lobbyists, State Controller David McDermott, some legislators, school administrators and Governor Bill Ritter all tried to kill transparency legislation.
But the [...]
Sources tell COST that HB 1288 the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act has been “prepared” and “delivered” to Governor Bill Ritter’s desk. We don’t know exactly what that means but we look forward to the Governor’s signature. In all honesty what we really are looking forward to is the database of expenditures and [...]
COST learned that Governor Bill Ritter is not very transparent when it comes to bill signing. Colorado Transparency Project Director Amy Oliver called State Representative BJ Nikkel to find out when the Governor would sign HB 1288 the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act. Amy reported this morning on her blog:
The legislator [BJ Nikkel] [...]
A big thanks to Face the State for recognizing the work of Colorado Transparency Project Director Amy Oliver and naming her “Hottest Radio Host” for their 2009 Legislative Superlatives. For those who don’t know, Amy also hosts a radio show on News Talk 1310 KFKA in Greeley. [...]
COST believes that tranpsarency is more than just online databases of government expenditures and revenues. It’s about good government — transparent, accountable and completely open. That’s why we were so disappointed to read about SB 297, which allows state agencies to circumvent standard competitve bidding practices for “high dollar projects” [...]
COST learned that on Tuesday both houses of the Colorado General Assembly unanimously passed an amended version of HB 1288 the Colorado Transparency Act, the bill that proved to have “more lives than even the luckiest of felines.” It is now headed to Governor Bill Ritter for his signature.
The amended version builds upon [...]
Things happen fast this time of year at the General Assembly. Seems like COST just reported that SB 87, increased accountability requirements for special taxing districts, passed the House Finance Committee. And now more good news. Senator Morgan Carroll’s bill unanimously passed the full House. All that’s left is a [...]
Yesterday HB 1288 the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act passed the Senate Finance Committee with a unanimous vote to recommend it to the Senate Appropriations. A few words of reassurance from the Office of Information Technology were enough to persuade anti-transparency legislators who aren’t thrilled about divulging how the state [...]
Will the current economic situation put the big chill on global warming alarmism or will the reality of science? Can a promise of 5 million green jobs rescue the American economy? Those are just a couple of the questions climate and environmental expert James Taylor (not the singer) from [...]
Mark your calendar! The most prestigious free market event of the year, our 24th Annual Founders’ Night Dinner will be on Wednesday, November 13 at the elegant Donald R. Seawell in the Denver Center for Performing Arts. We are honored that political satirist and author Christopher Buckley, son [...]
Forget energy, health care, education or taxes! Who is Sarah Palin? And can she help Senator John McCain win the west and the important battleground state of Colorado? Also, we all want to know which celebebs will be rubbing elbows with Republicans in the twin cities? Those are just a few of the [...]
Protesters? Hillary or Bill? Hollywood stars? Tight security? Traffic jams? Invesco field? What will be the big story from Denver’s Democratic National Convention? On this special edition of Independent Thinking host Jon Caldara convenes a star-studded media round table that includes Executive Editor of the Weekly Standard and co-host of Fox News [...]
Protesters? Hillary or Bill? Hollywood stars? Tight security? Traffic jams? Invesco field? What will be the big story from Denver’s Democratic National Convention? On this special edition of Independent Thinking host Jon Caldara convenes a star-studded media round table that includes Executive Editor of the Weekly Standard and co-host of Fox News [...]
For the next three weeks your favorite public policy TV show Independent Thinking will be moved from our usual Thursday night time slot to Friday night happy hour at 7:30 p.m. So for the balance of this month, tune in to KBDI Channel 12 at 7:30 p.m. on Friday nights. [...]
