New state Web site lets users see how tax dollars are spent

Imagine opening a letter from a utility company and finding a bill for $354,571.

Surprised? That’s the amount of Missouri’s bill from AmerenUE for 10 days of power — and that’s just one of the utility bills the state must pay.

Gov. Matt Blunt announced a new online database, called the Missouri Accountability Portal, or MAP, on Wednesday, that lets residents view how the state spends its tax revenues and pays its bills. The site address is mapyourtaxes.mo.gov.

Blunt said, in a news release, that the Web site makes the state government more accountable to its citizens.

Users can search the new site by category such as computer equipment or housekeeping, or by a specific vendor’s name. The site is updated each day and users can make comparisons between state spending year to year since 2000.

The site, authorized by an executive order, uses existing state resources, according to the news release.

“Missourians deserve openness in state spending,” Blunt said. “We must be transparent, these dollars belong to the people of our state.”

In January 2008, the salaries of all state employees will be available on the Web site, Blunt said in the release. State salaries are currently published biennially in the “Official State Manual of Missouri.”