Algonquin Launches 'Financial Transparency' Tool Online

ALGONQUIN, IL — In an effort to provide a more inclusive and transparent budget, the village of Algonquin recently launched a new financial transparency dashboard.

The interactive reporting tool allows residents to explore up to five years of Algonquin’s budget and actual data online. Users can view data in interactive, visually attractive charts and graphs; drill down and filter data by department, expense type, fiscal year and more, according to a village of Algonquin news release.

“There’s no greater obligation we have than to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” said village president Debby Sosine. “Our financial dashboard, along with our existing transparency portal, makes it easier than ever for our residents and business owners to see exactly how the Village is spending money.”

The new dashboard is meant to further the village’s commitment to ethical, transparent government and fiscal responsibility.

In 2014, the village was recognized for its online transparency portal, being one of a handful of local governments in Illinois to receive the Illinois Policy Institute’s Sunshine Award. The transparency portal contains over a decade’s worth of budgets, audits, financial reports, and many more financial and operating data sets, according to the news release.

Additionally, the village’s financial reports have been recognized for their understandability, accessibility, transparency, and adherence to best practices in public finance. In the past year, these recognitions include the: Government Finance Officers Association’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial

Reporting, Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting, as well as the International City/County Management Association’s Certificate of Achievement in Performance Management.

To view the financial dashboard and other financial information, visit the Village of Algonquin’s Transparency Portal at www.algonquin.org/transparency.