Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 3/6/2015
CHICOPEE – With a new feature on the city’s website, Chicopee residents will get to see exactly their dollars are being spent.
Treasurer Marie Laflamme unveiled “Open Checkbook” on March 3. Residents can access the new program from the Treasurer’s page on the city’s website (www.chicopeema.gov) and can access a variety of financial information about the city.
“It’s all about fiscal transparency,’ Laflamme said, who added she has been working on the new feature since she was elected.
The city took advantage of a state grant to fund the service, she said.
Chicopee is one of a handful of communities she said she have such a feature. Locally, Springfield and Northampton have similar services. The city is one of six communities that received funding through the state, Laflamme added.
Laflamme said she believes will be interested in the information the service presents because “more and more people are educated and want to be involved in the city.”
The service allows people to see every transaction the city makes – how much it pays and to which vendor. A visitor can see how each department spends and how much of the city budget it takes up.
The service also allows a person to see the wage information on all city employees.
Mayor Richard Kos said this was an example of city departments working together as besides the treasurer, the city auditor was involved, as well as the Information Technology department.
The city is now working on a new website as the current site needs updating. Kos said the new site should be ready in June.