City launches interactive online finance tool

A new online tool that allows citizens to view the city’s revenue and expenses debuted earlier this month.

The “Open Finance Portal” is an interactive tool that provides a detailed look at the city’s expenses and income, allowing access to data for all budgets by function, fund, department, service type and vendor.

“This tool will allow residents to see how much revenue is received and from whom, as well as how each dollar is allocated,” said Diane Pelletier, finance director.

Tyler Technologies developed the tool, Socrata Open Data and Citizen Engagement, that transforms data into graphs, charts, and maps; maximizes data’s value by sharing it with others through the built-in catalog or on social media; and gives technical developers, innovators and entrepreneurs easy access to data.

Financial data will be updated each week and the information is protected so it cannot be manipulated or changed by nonemployees.

“We reviewed several financial software products and found that the Socrata system was the most user-friendly. We hope to receive community feedback on the system throughout the coming year,” Pelletier said.

“In the past two years, Diane and her team have provided comprehensive budget documents, award-winning audited financial reports and more,” said City Manager Al Noyola. “I appreciate the support we received from the mayor and council for understanding the benefit of this technology and investing in the product.”

The portal is on the city’s website and can be accessed by visiting https://bcnv.finance.socrata.com/#!/dashboard.

Hali Bernstein Saylor is editor of the Boulder City Review. She can be reached at hsaylor@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9523. Follow @HalisComment on Twitter.