Utah Transparency Requirements for State and Local Governments Presented by: Brenda Lee, Assistant Director Division o

1. Utah Transparency Requirements for State and Local Governments Presented by: Brenda Lee, Assistant Director Division of Finance Utah Department of Administrative Services

2. THE MESSENGER REQUESTS THAT SHE PLEASE NOT BE SHOT. THANK YOU!

3. “The other day I got out my can opener and was opening a can of worms when I thought what am I doing?” Jack Handy

4. UC 63A-3-402 creates the Utah Public Finance Website (UPFW) • Permit taxpayers to view, understand, and track use of taxpayer dollars on the internet without paying a fee. • Statute requires the State and Higher Ed to post financial information to UPFW. • Local governments required to post to the UPFW or their own website. • Division of Finance to establish & maintain the UPFW & coordinate & regulate posting by local entities.

5. Utah Transparency Advisory Board Permanent Members: • Chair: John Reidhead, Director Division of Finance, Department of Administrative Services • Vice Chair: Senator Wayne Niederhauser • Representative Kenneth Sumsion • Jonathan Ball, Legislative Fiscal Analyst • John Nixon, Executive Director, Governor's Office of Planning and Budget • Stephen Fletcher, CIO/Executive Director, Department of Technology Services

6. Three temporary Board Members just recently appointed by the Governor to represent the following: • Municipalities: Mia Love, Mayor, Saratoga Springs. • Counties: Bruce Larsen, Chief Deputy Auditor, Salt Lake County Auditor’s Office. (Recently resigned.) • Special & Local Districts: LeGrand Bitter, Executive Director, Utah Association of Special Districts. Their terms end June 30, 2011.

7. Utah Transparency Advisory Board (UTAB): • Advise Finance on implementation and administration of the website. • Determine what information shall be provided with a specified content, reporting frequency, and form. • Determine search methods and criteria to be used if entity uses their own website.

8. Utah Transparency Advisory Board (UTAB) continued: • Evaluate the cost effectiveness of providing certain information. • Establish size or budget thresholds to identify those local entities that will participate in website. • Give special consideration to those entities with an annual budget of less than $10 million.

9. The website was operational on May 15, 2009, as required by statute. • The State posted revenues and expenses on May 15, 2009 for FY 2009. We have continued to post this information monthly. • The State posted employee compensation information in Sept 2009 and again in Sept of 2010.

10. Must post required information by May 15, 2010: • Institutions of Higher Education (must use State’s website) • School Districts • Charter Schools • Public Transit Districts • Data posted for fiscal year that begins no later than 7/1/09 • Currently 95% of these entities have posted revenue and expense data.

11. Required to post information by May 15, 2011: Counties Municipalities Local Districts under Title 17B Special Service Districts under Title 17D Data posted for fiscal year that begins no later than 7/1/10

12. Utah Transparency Board Policies: • Entities with a current annual budget of <$1 million are exempt at this time. • Based on the most recent total annual budget of either revenues or expenditures, whichever is greater. • Revenues and expenditures must be submitted at least quarterly, within one month after fiscal quarter end.

13. “ RIDE THE HORSE IN THE DIRECTION IT IS GOING.” Werner Earhard

14. Utah Transparency Board Policies continued: • Entities must post all detail revenue and expense transactions from their accounting system including internal transactions, journal entries, vendor payments, corrections, adjustments, etc. • Website summarizes detail and allows drill down and search through the data by payee name, organization, category, and fund. • Board Policies: • www.transparent.utah.gov • Resources & Links

15. Utah Transparency Board Policies continued: • Employee compensation data will be submitted once each year and within 3 months of fiscal year end and will include by employee: • Employee name, unless protected under GRAMA • Total benefits only, detail benefits not allowed • Total salary/wages • Total incentive awards • Total leave paid (if recorded separately in entity’s system) • Title • Pay Rate • Gender, unless protected under GRAMA

16. Employee data soon to be added: • Height • Weight • Marital status • Blood type • Just Kidding!!

17. THE MESSENGER REQUESTS THAT SHE PLEASE NOT BE SHOT. THANK YOU!

21. How the State’s website works: • Entities don’t need to spend time & money developing and maintaining another website. • Each entity uploads their own files using a simple data submission process. • Separate administrative website to upload files. • Admin website is password protected. • Edits of record count and dollar amount.

22. How the State’s website works – continued: • Finance has created a spreadsheet template which simplifies the file creation process for those entities without IT resources. If they can get data into a spreadsheet, this template can be used to create the file for the website. • Finance staff will work with each entity to help them to map their data to the website file layout. • There are 2 test websites, a display website and an upload website.

23. How the State’s website works – continued: • Test websites allow for upload of files in a safe test environment. • Test websites are password protected, not public websites. • Ability to view data on test website and work through issues.

24. How the State’s website works – continued: • Ability to delete and re-add test files. • Flexible data structure, fields can be customized for each entity. • Pipe delimited text file ( | ). • Transparency Board must review and approve use of entity’s own website.

25. Privacy Concerns • Shouldn’t send private/protected data sent to website, except for temporarily protected vendor/payee names. • GRAMA UC Title 63G Chapter 2: • Public records, • Private records, • Controlled records, • Protected records.

26. Privacy Concerns – continued: • Federal restrictions: • HIPAA – medical information • FERPA – student information • Other state or federal statutes • Vendor names: • “Not Provided” – permanently protected • “Name Redacted” – temporarily protected • Website has an automated way to protect and unprotect vendor names.

27. Privacy Concerns – continued: • Transaction Descriptions • Filter out private data such as: • Social security numbers • Account numbers • Welfare client names, etc. • Or use a more generic description • The State uses lowest level of category • For example: Office Supplies

28. Demonstration of Website • Levels of Government • Entities • Transaction Types • Expense (detail from G/L) • Revenue (detail from G/L) • Payroll/Employee Compensation (employee data from payroll system) • Stimulus Expense (state use only) • Stimulus Revenue (state use only) • Fiscal Period

29. Demonstration of Website - continued • Organization • Further defines Entity • Category • Further defines Transaction Type • Fund • Self-balancing set of accounts • Name Search • Payee/Customer/Vendor: Used for all Transaction Types

30. Detail Transaction View • Posting Date • Website Upload Date • Entity Transaction ID • Transaction Description • Contract Description • Contract Number • Amount • Email and/or phone number contact

31. Transaction Downloads • Ability to download into Excel spreadsheet. • Download currently limited to 10,000 records. • Larger downloads available upon request. • Possible Future Development: • Including detail payment info from subsidiary payment systems such as MMIS (Medicaid), PACMIS (Dept of Human Services), etc. • Loading more contract information and copies of contracts.

32. Contacts at Finance: • Darrell Swensen (functional) • dwensen@utah.gov • 801-538-3059 • Mary Lee Hickey (technical) • mhickey@utah.gov • 801-538-3273 • Brenda Lee (project manager) • brendalee@utah.gov • 801-538-3102