Transparency

Transparency is a fundamental aspect of a government and is vital to its accountability. It is also a key indicator of a government that is focused upon providing quality service to its citizens and is a check against waste and mismanagement.

In order for Montgomery County to maintain the confidence of its citizens, it is essential that our government operates in the open and makes its information readily accessible to the public.

Examples of how a lack of transparency affects us today include:

Budget Deficits and Service Cuts

Most of the public does not realize that billions of our tax dollars remain unaudited at the accounts payable level. This means that we cannot see for whom the checks are made payable. To compare this to running a household, it would be like telling the IRS that you spent $10,000 last year on medical expenses, but refused to document the identity of the doctors paid, and for what services.

Although the County's books are reviewed annually to make certain that debits and credits balance, in many cases there are no audits performed on exactly where the money goes.

For example, both the MCPS and the WSSC refuse to allow our County Inspector General to audit their accounts payable records, and remarkably, there has not been a demand or request from the County Council or County Executive to correct this situation – instead their solution is to raise taxes or cut services.

Steve will advocate for the on-line publication of all payments made with our tax dollars.

We cannot begin to control the deficit unless we know that we are working upon a solid foundation of sound fiscal management.

Steve would like to know your thoughts on these issues. Click here to share them with him.

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