Sunshine in Atlanta

Earlier this month Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the launching of the city’s own municipal checkbook in order to show citizens how the city is spending their money. Atlanta joins the group of cities across the nation that have made their spending information available in an open portal online, including New York City and San Francisco, along with local examples of Kansas City, St. Louis City, Chesterfield, and Ballwin, all of which have their spending records posted on their websites.

As you may know, a few months ago the Show-Me Institute launched its own municipal checkbook project in an effort to increase government transparency and accountability. Our database tracks the spending of local cities. Missouri taxpayers ought to be able to see how their cities spend their money, and we hope more of our municipalities follow Atlanta’s lead by making a municipal checkbook a top priority.