Worcester creates online database of city payments

Mass Innovations, From the Beacon, May 2011

Last fall, Worcester began posting online all payments the city makes to contractors and other entities, a step that city officials say has dramatically enhanced government transparency.

The “Vendor Check Register,” available on the city’s website, can be searched by typing in the name of a vendor, choosing an account type (such as “office supplies,” “health insurance” or “heating fuel oils”), or identifying a department. As of early April, visitors to the site had conducted more than 33,000 searches, according to Treasurer Mariann Castelli Hier.

The idea was proposed by Councillor Konstantina Lukes, based on what is in place in Cook County, Ill. Worcester’s Technical Services Division worked with the offices of the treasurer and city manager to set up the system, which includes checks dating back to July 2009.

“Basically, the information was already there” in city files, Lukes said. “We just had to configure it so it would be chronological and [searchable] by vendor.”

In December, a report in the Worcester Telegram made use of the online check register to highlight travel-related expenses incurred by Police Department officials and school administrators and teachers the previous summer. The article cited more than $17,000 in expenses in 2010 for top police officials, as well as roughly $25,000 in similar costs for school administrators and teachers. The latter amount included $12,655 for putting up 61 administrators and teachers overnight at the Hyatt Hotel at Logan Airport.

Lukes pointed out that not all travel-related expenses are paid through city taxes and that restricting travel is not likely to have much impact on the overall budget.

“But,” she said, “it’s the kind of thing that annoys taxpayers – and it should. The small expenses are very symbolic.”

Lukes added, “I think that the closer we get to the new budget, the more scrutiny we’re going to give to those online checks. … This is a valuable tool to see how we are spending our tax money in the [fiscal 2011] budget.”

Prior to the introduction of the online check register, Lukes said, it was still possible for residents to come to City Hall and search for information. But doing so was far more time-consuming, and in some cases doing so might have required a Freedom of Information Act request.

The online check register still has some limitations. Though search criteria enable users to set a date range, some queries produce hundreds or even thousands of results. (Results from a search for travel-related expenses, for example, include dozens of what appear to be small mileage reimbursements for city employees.)

The database lists the amount that each check was written for, but does not necessarily clarify what services or products were obtained in return. In January, the City Council asked the city manager’s office to look into the feasibility of creating PDFs of all invoices that correspond to the checks listed in the register. The aim was to make it easier to identify possible areas “for cost savings or reduction in the upcoming budget process,” according to City Council minutes.

Tom Zidelis, the city’s chief financial officer, described the City Council’s goal as laudable, but cited practical obstacles to achieving it.

Scanning in thousands of invoices and linking them to the check register would be an extremely difficult undertaking, in part because of limitations built in to the city’s accounting system, Zidelis said.

“Right now I don’t think it’s feasible, but we are going to try to follow the request of the City Council,” Zidelis said. “We believe in transparency, and we will improve it if we can.”

So far, he said, there doesn’t appear to be much interest among the public for having the invoices available online.

“No one’s calling for the back-up [documents],” he said. “If no one is asking for it, is it worth the cost?”

The accounting system also limits the online check register’s search capabilities, according to Zidelis.

For more information, contact Tom Zidelis at (508) 799-1225.