Columbia County has made available a new way for the public to examine its government’s financial dealings. It recently announced the launching of its new digital budget book, intended to be a more efficient and user-friendly way to peruse the application of the county’s budget.
“Columbia County believes that operating with transparency is the foundation of a strong government and fosters positive civic engagement,” said spokesperson Cassidy Harris in a statement released Oct. 14. “This new website-based budget book allows citizens to see precisely how funds are generated and allocated, and better understand how the county’s annual budget impacts the community programs and services they care about most.”
Leanne Reece, director of internal services, had composed the budget book manually for years, making the budget publicly available in a PDF document. After researching to find a more efficient means to present the budget she discovered ClearGov, a software company that designs online platforms for government budgeting practices.
After seeing demonstration she decided to apply ClearGov’s platform to the county’s budget book.
“It just seemed like it would be a lot easier for me to put the document together,” said Reece. “And also make it easier for citizens or other interested parties to find information about Columbia County.”
[adrotate banner=”51″]
The process for developing the online budget book entailed Reece providing data from the county’s financial system, such as fund structures, revenue classifications and expense categories, into Excel format and uploading it into ClearGov. She then explained to ClearGov how she wanted the data to be formatted in a process called mapping.
As this is the first year she implemented the platform, Reece says she found it challenging and somewhat time consuming.
“I had to build out all the different pages within the digital booklet,” said Reece. “I had to do all of that from scratch, with guidance from ClearGov as well as by looking at what some other county governments have done.”
Reece notes that the process, if initially cumbersome, proved worth it. The website presents the data with charts and graphs in a manner devised to be easily accessible and referable to a layman trying to understand how the local government uses its money.
“I really felt like the old way was getting kind of boring and stagnant,” said Reece. “There wasn’t enough pop to it and color to it.”
The budget book is also compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, optimized with tools such as screen readers and voice recognition software for people reliant on assistive technology.
Reece believes the ease of use, with county budget information available at the click of a link, will prove the primary benefit of the new platform.
“You know, 200 or 300 pages is a little harder to navigate in a PDF format,” she said. “Whereas with a digital one you just over your mouse over different sections and you can easily go straight to what you’re looking for, whether it be our financial policies, or demographic information or budget information itself.”
The Columbia County digital budget book displays the budget starting from the fiscal year that began July 1. It is available via the county’s website at https://county-columbia-ga-budget-book.cleargov.com/fy2021_2022-budget/2022/.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
