City of Phoenix website receives poor transparency grade

Phoenix is getting a bad grade from the Arizona Public Interest Research Group for the city’s lack of a transparent website.

“We gave them a D because they’re just not as transparent as they should be with how they’re spending taxpayer dollars,” said PIRG’s Serena Unrein. “The main thing that the city lacks, according to our report, is a central transparency website. Residents just can’t see checkbook level details of how their tax dollars are being spent. We think that people who live in the City of Phoenix should be able to see how their tax dollars are being spent.”

Goldwater Institute Director Byron Schlomach said it wouldn’t cost much for Phoenix to create such a website.

“In some cities, the cost, per resident, has been less than four cents. It would not be expensive, and the benefits would far outweigh the costs.”

Unrein said the report is being presented to Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton on Wednesday.

PIRG rated America’s top 30 cities on how well they provide information about city revenues and spending to the public.