The City of Pittsburgh Launches Financial Transparency Platform - Fiscal Focus Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Pittsburgh today announced the launch of Fiscal Focus Pittsburgh, a new financial data platform powered by OpenGov.com that provides the public, City officials and the media unprecedented access to city budget data. The powerful visualization software transforms volumes of raw data into an intuitive, digital format that improves access, understanding and analysis of the budget. The platform may be accessed at http://pittsburghpa.gov/controller/fiscal-focus-pgh or on Twitter @fiscalfocuspgh.

The OpenGov platform displays three years of government spending and revenue detail, including the 2015 budget, in a user-friendly portal. Users can view historical revenue and expenditure trends over time and explore multiple views of budget data, including by fund, department, expense or revenue type. For example, visitors to the platform may answer frequently asked questions such as "What does the City receive from charging fees?" or "How much does the City spend on salaries across all departments?"

The launch of the OpenGov platform demonstrates the City's commitment to make finances more accessible and understandable.

"This is just the latest way Pittsburgh is letting the sun shine in. Residents deserve to know how every penny of their tax money is being spent, and this new data tool will allow that in an easy-to-use manner," Mayor Peduto said.

"Fiscal Focus Pittsburgh gives Pittsburgh taxpayers a detailed view of how their tax dollars are being spent," said Controller Michael Lamb. "This platform takes the online monthly expenditure and revenue reports the Controller's office has been making available to the public for the last several years, and makes the information more user-friendly and available for the public's use."

"It's Council's job to make sure that the City is budgeting and spending responsibly," said Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak. "That's why I sponsored the legislation to bring a platform like OpenGov to Pittsburgh. This tool will not only hold ourselves and our departments accountable to the taxpayer, but help the taxpayers better understand their government."

"The City of Pittsburgh is setting the standard for financial transparency and access," said Zac Bookman, OpenGov Co-Founder and CEO. "By transforming their budget data into an intuitive, digital format, the City is demonstrating its commitment to efficient, transparent and accountable government."

City officials will also benefit from the new OpenGov platform, with new opportunities to collaborate, visualize and share financial data across departments to make City budgets effective and efficient.

Pittsburgh joins a growing number of cities leveraging the OpenGov platform. More than 250 cities, counties, state agencies, school systems, and special districts across the country leverage the OpenGov platform to access, analyze, and visualize financial data.

SOURCE OpenGov

Related Links

http://www.OpenGov.com