MacIver Institute Expands Transparency Website

WIOpenGov.Org Now Has 2010 State of Wisconsin and City of Milwaukee Payroll Data

[Madison, Wisc…] Wisconsin’s premier web portal for government employee payroll and benefit data just got better.

WIOpenGov.org, a project of the MacIver Institute, now includes payroll data for the City of Milwaukee and newly updated 2010 payroll data of Wisconsin State Employees.

“Now more than ever, the public deserves access to information regarding the pay and benefits of the government workers they employ,” said MacIver Institute President Brett Healy. “When we launched this site last month, we declared our commitment to adding new data on a regular basis and so we continue to invest funds and manpower to keep WIOpenGov.org a one stop shop for information regarding spending on government employee compensation at the state and local level.”

Healy reiterated his assurance that MacIver staff does not augment or manipulate the data it receives from the state and local governments. He says the site currently includes payroll information for all state employees, payroll and benefit information for every K-12 school employee in Wisconsin and information from several large municipalities.

“We are providing the most up to date State of Wisconsin payroll data anywhere on the web,” said Healy. “We’ve now added the City of Milwaukee information and will add new municipal payroll information on a near weekly basis.”

All of the data available on www.WIOpenGov.org is public, in accordance to state law. However, different government entities have varying commitments to just how accessible the information was to the general public. In just over one month they’ve gained 1,100 subscribers and over had more than 40,000 visits to the site.

“The MacIver Institute firmly believes that public information should be easily accessible to the public,” said Healy. “Even if the official custodians of those records disagree, we will continue to give Wisconsin journalists, watchdogs, and voters the access they deserve regarding how Wisconsin spends its citizens’ tax dollars.’

The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, a two-year old think tank located on the Capitol Square in Madison, is the Free Market Voice for Wisconsin. In addition to WIOpenGov.org, MacIver publishes research and analysis on education, tax and health care issues and operates the MacIver News Service—a copyright free open source news reporting agency which focuses on free market issues in the public arena.