OpenGov Budget Builder Goes Live in Jackson County, Georgia

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- OpenGov, the world's first integrated cloud solution for public sector budgeting, reporting and open data, announced today that its new OpenGov Budget Builder^TM solution is fully implemented at the Water and Sewerage Authority of Jackson County, Georgia. OpenGov Budget Builder is a first-of-its-kind online product designed to streamline the budgeting process for governments of all sizes, and to replace the legacy of complicated and antiquated Excel spreadsheets. OpenGov also announced today that more than 20 other local governments including Harford County, Maryland; Long Beach, New York; and Culpeper, VA are actively rolling out OpenGov Budget Builder for their upcoming budget cycles.

Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority joins the City of Burnet, Texas, and Greenwood, Indiana as an early adopter of Budget Builder. With populations that range from 6,000 to nearly 250,000 citizens, these agencies demonstrate that Budget Builder can help cities and counties of any size make the budgeting process easier, faster and more collaborative across different departments.

"OpenGov has completely transformed our agency's budget process," said Judy Smith, the Finance Director for Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority, which serves approximately 8,100 residents. "By seamlessly compiling data from previous years, ensuring collaboration across departments and letting us quickly share key information with stakeholders, Budget Builder has allowed us to focus our time and energy on serving our residents instead of agonizing over the budget."

Prior to implementing Budget Builder, administrators in both Jackson County and the City of Burnet faced massive technology barriers when they tried to collaborate. Budget teams were forced to spend thousands of hours reconciling dozens of Excel spreadsheets, exchanging email-based proposals, and performing clerical work instead of evaluating proposals and planning proactively.

"Smart budgeting is critical to the efficiency and efficacy of local government," said OpenGov CEO and Co-Founder Zac Bookman. "As more and more agencies, cities and counties across the country look to implement OpenGov's Budget Builder and our other tools, it is clear that the public sector is enthusiastically embracing the power of technology. Our offerings provide governments of all sizes with real-time access to accurate financial data to increase transparency, enhance integrity, encourage cooperation and save valuable time and resources."

Budget Builder - which integrates with OpenGov's suite of other tools - helps these governments dramatically simplify the budgeting process. Agencies access a single online platform to prepare budgets, report on spending against budgets, analyze other performance metrics, and keep elected officials and citizens better informed about how tax dollars are being spent. Budget Builder empowers administrators in Burnet, Texas to plan out the city's $28.5 million budget, monitor spending and track investments and debts.

"Budget season has always been an ordeal. I worked late every night for months, and came in on weekends," said Burnet's Budget Director Connie Maxwell. "OpenGov has changed our entire process, giving me time to focus on the big issues affecting Burnet. Gone are the days of digging around through spreadsheets and enduring lengthy proposal submission cycles."

Maxwell adds that the tool has allowed her to cut the time spent on the budget's clerical work in half.  

About OpenGov
OpenGov's Smart Government Platform is the world's first integrated cloud solution for public sector budgeting, reporting, and open data. Used by over 1,300 public agencies in the rapidly growing OpenGov Network™, OpenGov's industry-leading technology streamlines the budget process, improves outcomes, and builds trust with the public. Founded in 2012 with headquarters in Silicon Valley, OpenGov works with leading governments of all sizes including the State Treasurer of Ohio, Minneapolis, MN; Maricopa County, AZ; and Washington, DC. OpenGov is backed by leading investors including Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, and Thrive Capital.  Learn more at www.opengov.com.

SOURCE OpenGov

Related Links

https://opengov.com