PRESS RELEASE
Jackson County and St. Louis County Added to Treasurer Fitzpatrick’s Local Government Checkbook

Jefferson City, MO –Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick
today announced that Jackson County and St. Louis County have been added to the
Local Government Checkbook, making spending data from Missouri’s two largest
counties available to taxpayers. The Checkbook is part of his ongoing commitment
to ensuring a more efficient and transparent government at both the state and
local levels. “As Treasurer, a priority of
mine continues to be improving transparency at all levels of government because
I believe transparency leads to better government,” Treasurer Fitzpatrick said.
“There is no question that with unprecedented spending levels across government,
knowing how those dollars are being spent will help build trust in government. I
am now taking my commitment to giving taxpayers unfettered access to government
spending information to the next level by using the power available to every Missourian
under the Sunshine Law to gather the data we will make available to the public
through our user-friendly searchable expenditure database.” The data from these two counties
represents over $2 billion in expenditures. Both the Show-Me Checkbook and
the Local Government Checkbook make spending data available to Missouri
taxpayers in an interactive and searchable portal. As part of his commitment to
transparency, the Treasurer has begun using Sunshine Requests to obtain
expenditure data from counties who have not voluntarily agreed to participate. Visitors to the Checkbook can
examine expenditure data detailing funds, departments, vendors, payment
descriptions, and totals for the available government entities. In 2020, Treasurer Fitzpatrick
announced the
expansion of the Show-Me Checkbook to include local governments. He also
facilitated aggregating state
expenditures related to federal stimulus funding
in one portal on the Treasurer’s Office website for Missourians to search. This
portal has been expanded to include information related to the American Rescue
Plan. The Show-Me Checkbook is
one of the most comprehensive state financial data portals in the country. The
Local Government section of the Show-Me Checkbook can be found here. Spending data from 29 local
governments, Buchanan County, Butler County, Callaway County, Cape Girardeau
County, Carter County, Cass County, Clay County, Cole County, Cooper County,
Dallas County, Franklin County, Greene County, Hickory County, Jackson County, Jasper
County, Lawrence County, Lincoln County, Marion County, Miller County, Moniteau
County, Montgomery County, Newton County, Randolph County, St. Charles County,
St. Louis County, the City of St. Louis, Vernon County, Webster County, and
Worth County can be searched, with additional counties in progress. The Office
will continue adding county expenditure data as it becomes available. ### Follow the Treasurer’s Office on Twitter,
Facebook, and Instagram @motreasurer.