Visitors to the City of Murrieta’s website can take advantage of a new tool that brings Measure T spending into public view and weaves greater transparency into local government. By clicking here, users have direct access to a wide range of financial data broken down by funding source and expenditure type.
“When voters passed our local one cent sales tax (Measure T) last November, they invested in the future of our community,” explains City Manager Kim Summers. “Now we can take a breath and address the backlog that emerged after experiencing some of the fastest population growth in the state. We’re doing this arm and arm with our residents and with absolute transparency.”
With anticipated Measure T revenue of $16 million per year, the City is making deferred investments in public safety, streets and roads, parks, community engagement and other areas identified as priorities by City Council and residents. The OpenGov tool lets the user create easy-to-read charts and graphs that can be downloaded and shared. It’s updated quarterly and provides a six-year overview.
As the City expands opportunities for resident engagement, it anticipates building out its data portal to include publicly available statistics from police, fire and other City departments.
“These numbers tell a story about our community,” Summers adds.” They can show how we’re changing, how we are addressing local needs, how we’re listening to residents. They help us connect.”