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BGA Expands Popular Web Payroll Database
Website now includes City of Chicago, Cook County, Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Housing Authority and State of Illinois payrolls
CHICAGO – The Better Government Association (“BGA”) has again expanded its online database of public payrolls, which now contains more than 206,000 records, encompassing seven units of government. The BGA today posted the State of Illinois payroll, in a continuing effort to educate the public on the costs of state and local government.
The BGA made the City of Chicago and Cook County payrolls available on its website last fall and added the same information for the Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, Chicago Transit Authority, and the Chicago Housing Authority. The database is free and searchable by employee name. Users can view information that is public, under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, such as employee last names, first names, job titles, departments, annual salaries, and start dates.
www.bettergov.org/Research/Employees.aspx
“As taxpayers are asked to bail out every unit of government across Illinois, citizens should be able to get an idea of where their tax dollars are going,” said BGA Executive Director Jay Stewart. “Leaders such as Mayor Daley, County Board President Todd Stroger and Governor Rod Blagojevich constantly assure us there is no wasteful patronage in their payroll – making tax hikes inevitable,” Stewart said. “The database allows citizens to verify whether that is the case.”
Since its launch in October, the response to this online tool demonstrates citizens are indeed interested in their government, when the information is made available. In just over three months, the website has received more than 500,000 page views, with daily traffic averaging more than 6,000, causing the BGA to move its site to a dedicated server. Further, public feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with much of the praise coming from those working within government.
“The bulk of government workers are honest, hard-working employees who often know where the fat really lies,” said Jay Stewart. “We encourage those workers to point out where the hacks, ghost payrollers, and connected insiders are on the public payroll,” Stewart said. Any such information can be forwarded to the BGA’s Investigative Program via email – invest@bettergov.org – or by calling the BGA’s Tip-line at (312) 386-9098. All calls and emails are confidential.
“Our hope is that governments in Illinois embrace the digital age soon and put this type of basic public information on their own websites. Until then the BGA will do so” said Stewart.
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