Atherton and OpenGov.com announce the release of a powerful new tool that presents and visualizes the Town’s revenues and expenses—from multi-year trends to object-level details. By leveraging the OpenGov Platform, citizens and staff can use the web-based software to enhance access, understanding, and analysis of the Town’s annual budget. Atherton joins the ranks of over 50 other California governments who lead the country in open government initiatives.
Town Finance Director Robert Barron III managed the partnership to make the government administration’s finances easily accessible and understandable. City Manager George Rodericks said, “With Atherton’s financial information so easily available, interested users can get the information they need and residents now have better visibility into how the government works for them. The partnership with OpenGov improves the Town's communications, helps build community engagement, and enhances transparency.”
The Town already provides the community with access to Town financial data. The Town produces and distributes the Town budget electronically via the Town's website. Online you can find copies of the Town's current and historic budgets, annual audited financial statements, employment contracts, salary schedules, CalPERS actuarials, and more - all within the Archive Center.
But sometimes, there's nothing quite like being able to manipulate the data by yourself by viewing charts and graphs or downloading the information into an excel spreadsheet. That's where OpenGov comes in. Through Atherton's Financial Data Transparency Portal users can view financial data based on the current budget or up to the current month. Users can manipulate the data and drill down to finite details or scale up to the big picture. Users can also download the data as an excel spreadsheet to take home.
The public is invited to explore the tool on the Town's web site via the link below. You can find the Transparency Tool listed under the Transparency Menu on the Top Right of the Town's website. We've provided a few links to common questions as well as some tips on using the Portal. Have fun!
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"The Town of Atherton and its residents can explore and visualize the budget in ways never before possible,” says Zachary Bookman, CEO and co-founder of OpenGov. "Atherton is transforming its financial data into meaningful, actionable information that strengthens its bond with constituents.” OpenGov offers web-based software for state and local government finances. The OpenGov Platform provides instant access to the budget and visualizes current and historic revenue and expenses. Government officials and citizens use the platform to understand, analyze, and share the data. Learn more at http://opengov.com/.