Kane County website recognized for transparency

On the heels of two years of debate on what really constitutes ethical behavior, Kane County officials learned Tuesday afternoon that at least their website is the most transparent of any county in the area.

The Illinois Policy Institute awarded Kane County the only perfect score in a rating of 26 county government websites. The conservative think tank’s rating is a measure of the availability of government information, such as salaries, tax rates, meeting agendas and contracts, to the average citizen. To earn a perfect score, Kane County worked with the institute to restructure its website and create links to the public information through the county’s home page.

Brian Costin, the institute’s director of government reform, said no other county makes the information as readily available as Kane County. Only two other units of government in the state — the municipalities of Lombard and Orland Park — have comparable information access, he said.

The institute’s audit is not a measure of any corruption that may or may not exist in a local government, or even their track records of supplying public records through the Freedom of Information Act. But Costin said the audit does shine a light on how willing a governmental body is to let taxpayers see how it conducts business.

“The availability of this information is important because if there was corruption, it would be a lot easier to find out what’s going on,” Costin said.

That may be a familiar refrain for citizens who have followed the county board’s two-year debate over refining its ethics ordinance. One of the major battles during that debate was a push to make county officials declare any campaign contributions received by entities seeking contracts with the county. Campaign donations by contractors are now a required disclosure during the county’s procurement process for transactions amounting to more than $15,000.

Costin said all units of government, including Kane County, can do a better job of informing taxpayers about the campaign contributions received by their local officials. The institute has teamed with State Sen. Dan Duffy to draft a bill that would require such disclosure.

Most other local counties did not receive a flattering score for website transparency in the institute’s study. DuPage and Lake Counties received “B” ratings. Cook County received a “D”. Will, McHenry, and Kendall counties were among 20 counties in the northern portion of the state to receive “F” grades.

Costin said disclosure of government employee salaries and benefits is the most common transparency element many units of government fail to make readily available to taxpayers.

“It’s sensitive information,” Costin said. “A lot of times with the economy being so bad, lots of citizens don’t like to see their public servants are making more money than they are, if that’s the case.”

The full transparency audit is available on the institute’s website: www.illinoispolicy.org.