Webb County - Meeting the Public's Needs
Webb County stepped up to the plate to welcome transparency by reporting its budget and operational expenses on its Web site. According to the County Auditor Leo Flores, “the county was getting a lot of requests from the public for this information” so the easiest step was to make it automatically accessible to everyone.
The county auditor did not have to incur additional costs to place the monthly reports and annual budgets on the Web. A single staff person develops and maintains the Web presentation of the budget and financial information, and Flores said this only takes about 10 percent of this person’s time.
Over three years, Flores says that the county’s Web site has evolved to offer financial reports and ways for the public to provide feedback. The newest tool available to the public, the Auditor’s Monthly Report, shows payment dates, payment amounts, the names of the entities being paid and the goods/services that were provided to the county.