The City of Naperville has announced that it has received an A+ transparency grade from Sunshine Review, a non-profit organization dedicated to state and local government transparency. This ranking outscored all other major cities in Illinois and the State of Illinois itself.
“Naperville takes government transparency very seriously,” Deputy City Manager Marcie Schatz said. “We are extremely happy to receive this score and know that outside organizations see the value in our efforts. We want to make sure our residents and businesses know exactly what is happening in the City and how their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent.”
In looking at the City’s website, the Sunshine Review used its 10-point transparency checklist and determined it contained thorough information on the budget, meetings, elected officials, administrative officials, building permits and zoning information, audits, contracts, lobbying, public records and taxes. Naperville has information posted on all of these topics at www.naperville.il.us. More information about the Sunshine Review and its transparency checklist are available at http://sunshinereview.org/core/.
Recently, the City also put together a webpage solely devoted to government transparency to highlight important information and provide residents with a better idea of how their tax dollars are spent. Available at www.naperville.il.us/transparency.aspx, the page lists contact information for elected officials and City staff, Finance and Human Resources information, including an innovative analysis of the City’s expenditures known as “spotlightonspend” and lobbying contracts.
Editor’s Note: For many years, the city’s archive of public meetings, workshops and other events that are available and open for public viewing around the clock has been one of PN’s most-used features on its website. The City’s transparency is appreciated on many levels.
