Local governments need to open up more
State and local governments are “under-delivering” open and honest information about spending practices to the public, according to a survey by the Alexandria, Va.-based Association of Government Accountants (AGA).
The 1,652 adults who responded to the online survey said government’s openness and honesty in spending habits was “vitally important,” but they considered the government’s performance in the area to be poor. There was a 67 percentage point difference between the amount of financial information respondents expect from the government and what they receive.
“We believe that the traditional methods of communicating government financial information must be supplemented by reporting that expresses complex financial details in an understandable form,” says AGA Executive Director Relmond Van Daniker.