"Missourians deserve openness in state spending," Blunt said. "We must be transparent. These dollars belong to the people of our state. We can use technology to allow Missourians to better see how their tax dollars are being used. Whether it is more than a half of a billion dollar increase to education or important investments in our state's future, the Missouri Accountability Portal will provide Missourians with up-to-date information to track the use of their tax dollars."
The Missouri Accountability Portal is one of the first comprehensive searchable databases of financial records based on real-time data in the nation. The portal, as its acronym MAP implies, provides citizens a map to their tax dollars.
The MAP site was established within existing state resources and is updated at the close of each business day to provide up-to-date access to information about state spending, allowing citizens to demand fiscal discipline and responsibility. Users can search the MAP site by budget category, vendor or contract. Links to other public information maintained by the state are also available on the MAP site. In addition, state employees' salaries will be listed in a searchable database beginning January 1, 2008.
Blunt launched the site as part of his ongoing efforts to capitalize on emerging technologies to improve state services and provide more information to Missouri's citizens. Earlier this year he unveiled the Missouri Business Portal, a one-stop-shop that connects small business owners with state government resources based on their inquiries and interests.
Blunt encourages Missourians to visit the MAP site at http://mapyourtaxes.mo.gov. A link to the MAP site can also be found on the governor's Internet site at http://gov.missouri.gov/index.htm.
