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STATE TREASURER CARY KENNEDY ANNOUNCES WEBSITE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Denver: Colorado State Treasurer Cary Kennedy today announced that Colorado Tax Tracks, a new feature on her state treasury website, has received an award for excellence. The Digital Government Achievement Awards, given by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government, cited Colorado Tax Tracks as a winner in its Government-to-Citizen State Government category.
“Since I took office, our focus has been on making Colorado’s government more transparent and accountable,” said Kennedy. “It’s great to receive such high recognition from a group that sees these types of efforts from all over the country.”
Colorado Tax Tracks, which is available at www.colorado.gov/treasury [2], provides detailed information on an individual or a family basis about how state tax dollars are used. Users enter their income and the system provides an interactive report that shows an estimate of how much they spent on different services. Information is broken out so that taxpayers can see what they spend on nearly one hundred functions of government, from clean drinking water inspections to disease control.
Visitors to the website then have the opportunity to vote on whether they agree with how funds are collected and spent.
Colorado Tax Tracks is the first state website of its kind in the nation.
The Digital Government Achievement Awards recognize outstanding agency and department websites and projects from around the United States at the application and infrastructure level.
In a statement, Cathilea Robinett, executive director of the Center for Digital Government, said that the award winners were impressive, particularly given current economic circumstances.
“The winners’ innovative use of the Internet to continue delivering citizen services despite tight fiscal constraints is inspiring,” said Robinett. “This skilled use of the Web embodies the spirit of the Best of the Web awards and provides examples to state and local government leaders around the country on how to bring quality services to their citizens while containing costs.”
Colorado Tax Tracks is part of a comprehensive effort by Kennedy to make state finances more accessible for Coloradans. Kennedy has posted additional resources on the Treasurer’s website at www.colorado.gov/treasury [2], including the following:
- A detailed listing of state investments
- Monthly cash flow and daily balance sheet for the State of Colorado
- State Taxpayer Accountability Report (STAR) – a summary of the state’s overall financial position for taxpayers
- TOPs – Transparency Online Project system – a searchable database of state revenues and expenditures
Kennedy was honored earlier this summer for her efforts in bringing greater transparency to state government. In June, the Colorado Freedom of Information Council commended Kennedy for her leadership in making the state’s finances more transparent and accessible to the public.
The Council is a coalition of media, legal, citizens groups, and business professionals interested in assuring access to public information. It includes the Colorado Bar Association, the Colorado Broadcasters Association, the Colorado Press Association, Colorado Common Cause, and the League of Women Voters, among others.
The Council praised Kennedy for her “significant contribution to the public’s right to know by making the State Treasurer’s financial records accessible to the public via the Internet” as well as her efforts to explain the manner and reason for the expenditure of tax dollars.
The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. The Center is a division of e.Republic, Inc., the nation’s leading publishing, research, event, and new media company focused on information technology for the state/local government and education sectors.