County Honored With Gold Leadership Transparency Award

TYLER — Smith County has been honored for a third time with the 2013 Texas Comptroller Gold Leadership Circle Award for financial transparency in government. According to a county news release, The award recognizes local governments across Texas that are striving to meet a high standard for online financial transparency through:

· opening their books to the public;
· providing clear, consistent pictures of spending; and
· the sharing of information in a user-friendly format to assist citizens in understanding how their tax dollars are spent.

County Judge Joel Baker, who serves as Chief Budget Officer for the County, says posting the County’s check register online, making videos of public meetings readily available, and publishing the County’s complete budget document on its website are just a few of the steps the county has taken to promote transparency and community involvement in County government. “The citizens of Smith County are very involved and interested in what we do as stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars. We want everyone to have access to our meetings and financial transactions from their home or office computer so they can stay updated and involved with the decisions that we make,” Judge Baker said.

According to the news release, Smith County posts the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports, Adopted Budgets, Budget to Actual Reports, and the main operating and capital check registers online to provide the public with a clear overview of the financial transactions of the county. Weekly Commissioners Court meetings where financial issues are often discussed and voted on are open to the public or available to download and view online at smith-county.com. Smith County will be highlighted on the Texas Transparency Website at http://www.texastransparency.org/local/index.php according to the release.