New Website Aims To Simplify Financial Transparency In Davidson

DAVIDSON, NC — In an effort to improve financial transparency, the Town of Davidson has unveiled a new website that it says will present the town’s finances and insights into its demographics in a more easy-to-understand format.

The new “Transparency Center” website presents basic demographic information through infographics, such as Davidson’s population, median home value and median income, as well as the town’s revenue, debt and reserve funds.

The website initiative is the result of a partnership with ClearGov, a software company that specializes in making government data more user friendly with the goal of increasing transparency. ClearGov presents basic profiles of every municipality in North Carolina, and the new partnership with Davidson adds detailed revenue and expenditure breakdowns of its general fund data, town officials said.

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“We anticipate that using the ClearGov platform, in conjunction with our other transparency efforts, will enhance citizens accessibility to, and comprehension of, the town's finances,” says Finance Director Pieter Swart.

“We believe that transparency is more than just making data available; it is about providing data that is easily understandable in the proper context for people to relate,” said Chris Bullock, CEO of ClearGov. “Traditional financial statements alone do not properly tell a town’s financial story.”

You can access the “Transparency Center” website here.

What do you think of the new site? Sound off in the comment section.

Photo via JMiks/ Shutterstock