Elgin adds transparency to website

The city of Elgin has launched a new transparency page on its website to reduce time spent fulfilling Freedom of Information Act requests.

Much of the information, like the city's budget, ordinances, water quality reports and staff members' salaries, already was online. Other information is new, like disbursement reports and public safety pension actuarial reports.

"While the majority of the information listed on the page was already available on our website, the city now has a 'one-stop shop' for this commonly requested information," City Manager Rick Kozal said.

The move was based on feedback from residents and requested by the city council, multimedia specialist Molly Center said.

"The availability of data has become a basic expectation of residents and other stakeholders," she said. "The city council's investment in technology has provided staff members tools that will allow for a much more robust and functional transparency portal over time."

Elgin received 3,432 FOIA requests last year, with a monthly high of 335 requests in March 2015, city data shows. Among all departments, police got the most requests.

The categories included are based on the Illinois Policy Institute's guidelines for transparency, and other municipalities' transparency pages, Center said. The documents at cityofelgin.org/transparency are downloadable and searchable.