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15 SC governments post expenditures online

COLUMBIA, SC (WMBF) - A spending transparency initiative in South Carolina now has 15 local governments posting their spending details on the internet.

Aiken County and the City of Georgetown began posting monthly check registers in October, giving taxpayers online access to information about how their money is being used. They join the counties of Charleston, Dorchester and Anderson; the municipalities of Irmo, Cayce, Aiken, Chesnee, Charleston, Turbeville, Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach; the Holly Springs Fire-Rescue District and the Berkeley County School District, in posting their expenditures online.

"By putting such information at people's fingertips, these local officials understand it's not their money they're spending," South Carolina Comptroller Richard Eckstrom. "It's the people's money, and in this Information Age it's not difficult or expensive to provide people easy access to government spending details."

In addition to the 15 that have already begun posting their check registers online, several local governments are planning to join the transparency program. Richland County, the city of Columbia and the town of Elgin are planning to post their check registers online soon.

Small towns without websites can send their check registers to the comptroller's office to be posted on www.cg.sc.gov. Irmo and Chesnee post their checkbooks on the comptroller's site, and Elgin will do so as well.

"Even in the best of times, it's important to let people see how their hard-earned dollars are being spent," Eckstrom said. "When spending is done in the open, public officials are usually more accountable, knowing their decisions could face scrutiny. In tough financial times, when tax dollars are scarce, it's even more important that the public's business is conducted in full public view."

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