Examiner Staff Writer Maryland deserves a C when it comes to how open it is in disclosing how it spends tax dollars, according to a state advocacy group.
The nonprofit Maryland Public Interest Research Group’s “Following the Money” report said the state’s Web site containing details about tax expenditures is “emerging, but still not a leader due to serious deficiencies.”
One area that could be improved is making the state’s Web site more user-friendly, said Phineas Baxandall, a senior analyst with the nonprofit who co-wrote the report.
That state Web site — Maryland Funding Accountability — is operated by the Department of Budget and Management and allows searches of state payments of $25,000 or more to vendors.
One way the site could be improved is by allowing visitors to expand the search options for finding expenses, Baxandall said.
“What that means is if you wanted to find out about how much the state of Maryland is spending on, let’s say, tires for vehicles, you would have to know what the companies are that they’re giving money on to find those transactions,” he said, as opposed to just typing in “tires” and coming up with those sorts of contracts.
“That’s the type of thing that makes it less user-friendly than it could be, less accessible to someone who doesn’t already know what they’re looking for,” Baxandall said.
He also said the state should allow people to download entire spreadsheets’ worth of data.
A spokesman for Gov. Martin O’Malley pointed to the state’s Web site tracking money spent with federal stimulus funds as an example of its record of openness.
“This report addresses a small but important part of transparency — state Web presence,” said spokesman Shaun Adamec. “We improve every day in finding new and innovative ways to engage the people of Maryland in their government using Web tools.”
