They’re outside the traditional forms of local or state government, but so-called special districts spend more than $200 billion annually.
Nationwide, there are 38,000 of these government entities that provide a specific service for a designated area that would otherwise typically be provided by a local or state government.
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On July 28, 2016, the State Department released the 2016 Fiscal Transparency Report pursuant to section 7031(b) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2016 (Div. K, P.L.114-113) (“the Act”). The report found that 76 of 140 governments reviewed by the Department met minimum requirements of fiscal transparency. Eight governments found not to meet minimum requirements made significant progress toward meeting minimum requirements. The Department continued to update and strengthen the minimum requirements, as required by law.
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Read More… from State Department Releases Annual Fiscal Transparency Report – 2016
Since the federal Freedom of Information Act was enacted in 1966, transparency has become even more of a hot-button issue across the public sector. All 50 states and many local governments now have their own FOIA laws as well. But while these mandates for transparency enjoy broad support, agencies at all levels of government have limped along in their attempts to abide by them.
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