Sanford to shine light on expenses

Governor orders agency Web sites so public can see government costs

COLUMBIA — Instead of drudging through accounting documents or decoding government-speak, the public will soon be able to use the Internet to find out how state tax dollars are being spent.

Gov. Mark Sanford issued an executive order Thursday that requires his 15 Cabinet agencies and the Comptroller General's Office to create and post searchable databases online by March. The Web sites for each agency will list the cost of traveling, office supplies and other expenses.

"We've long believed that transparency is key to voters' ability to hold government accountable for the decisions it makes," Sanford said.

The Cabinet agencies will list expenditures and contracts over $100, broken down on a monthly basis. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom said his office hopes to eventually list monthly expenses for all state agencies, but to start, the information will be posted as yearly expenses.

Sanford wants the initiative, which will be free to access, to be implemented at no additional cost by using existing staff and in-house programming. He also challenged non-Cabinet agencies to join the effort.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project, a nonprofit research organization, found in 2003, the latest date information is available, that 97 million Americans, or 77 percent of Web users, searched online for government information.

"It's good government and good politics to put more information online," said Lee Rainie, Pew Internet project director. "Will it crash the government servers? Not so much. This is not going to be like people's favorite YouTube video."

Rainie said when people are paying their taxes, researching an issue or writing a school paper, they will be grateful that it's there.

In South Carolina, detailed government spending is available now but often is in hard-to-decipher accounting documents, and getting an answer can take multiple phone calls and days to answer.

Once the information is posted online at the Comptroller General's Web site, for example, the public can scroll through an alphabetical listing of state agencies and select a search period for specific spending details, Eckstrom said.

Reach Yvonne M. Wenger at ywenger@postandcourier.com or 803-799-9051.