(Credit: City of Saratoga Springs, 2022)
Saratoga Springs has engaged ClearGov to help with government budget transparency.
Saratoga Springs Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi wants residents to feel empowered to take an active role in the city’s budget process, so at the Feb. 15 City Council meeting, she introduced the concept of participatory budgeting and ushered a resolution through the city council to pay for software aimed at budgetary transparency.
“One of the things I strongly believe in is an informed public,” Sanghvi said. “Not everyone feels comfortable and competent to ask questions, and I don’t want people to feel like it’s outside their scope.”
Adopted by cities around the country, participatory budgeting allows residents to discuss, identity and prioritize projects, giving them power to make decisions about how city funds are spent.
To that end, Sanghvi asked Skidmore College associate professor and chair of political science Bob Turner to research the concept.
Turner and two students collected their findings, outlining a five-stage process in which residents submit ideas to a participatory budgeting committee, which reviews projects and presents them to the finance commissioner, who then brings them to the city council.
While the process won’t be able to start in full until next year’s budget, Sanghvi and her team created a breakdown of this year’s budget, presented in an easy-to-digest report on the city’s website.
The city, too, has engaged ClearGov, a company that says their mission is to help smaller municipalities increase transparency in the budgeting process.
In March 2021, the company provided a proposal. In December, the city engaged ClearGov’s services in a three-year contract. This year, the city spent $24,640 to ClearGov for software setup and annual fees. The city will spend $20,800 per year in 2023 and 2024.
The previous administration engaged this contract. Sanghvi was not on the council when this contract was approved.
A phone call with ClearGov seeking comment was disconnected after the reporter identified himself, and the return call was not picked up. [After publication, Robert Battaglia, the ClearGov name listed on the contract encouraged FoothillsBusinessDaily.com to speak with the city.] The contract outlines the many steps to be taken. For instance ClearGov will collect and confirm data received from the city, and the city will set up meetings and make people available.
Deputy Commissioner of Finance Heather Crocker wrote in a text: "We are in the process of building the program for the web. This will take some time, but ClearGov will be rolled out as soon as possible and certainly this year."
Last week, Sanghvi said in a phone call: “I want the city to know what is actually in the budget and where the money is going, and also, what are the main sources of revenue. I’m a professor, a teacher, and I want to inform our community how our money is being used and where it’s going so if they have strong opinions on one thing or another, they are able to explain why and talk about it.”
Moving forward, Sanghvi hopes community members take an active role in the city’s budget process.
“A lot of people talk about how this budget shows the values of our community,” she said. “I’m hoping we can get more community input and the first step is ensuring the community can read the documents. I’m hoping there’s more interaction about finance and the budget.”
Editor's Note: Steve Thurston contributed to this report.