Uniform and transparent reporting: is it an unfunded mandate?

Coeur d'Alene Rep. Jim Addis' bill on uniform local government expenditure reporting passed the House body Monday in a vote of 54-15, despite some fearing it would be an unfunded mandate.

House Bill 73 would set up a new reporting system that would require taxing districts to conform to one style of financial reporting and send their information to the state controller's office website "Transparent Idaho" for public access.

One of three major bills Kootenai County leaders have been watching, HB 73, stems from the Property Taxes and Revenue Expenditures legislative interim committee's actions — to which Addis was co-chairman.

Part of the legislation's inspiration was Addis' experience speaking to city stakeholders and the association of counties where officials couldn't provide definitive data on how unfunded mandates burdened them financially because of variances in reporting style.

"We want this information to be as easy to access and as easy to understand as possible," Addis said.

In Addis's introduction on the House floor, he pointed out that this bill would be beneficial in taxpayer understanding of how their districts are operating and possibly influence better overall spending. He cited a case study from the Harvard Business School that equated a reduction in entity expenses that use bench mark tracking systems similar to that described in the bill.

"It's been proven that transparency impacts behavior," Addis said. "Entities that have done these types of data-mining analysis, including states like Utah and four or five other states are implementing this program, have seen cost reductions in the amount of 10%. That's a big number."

By requiring that cities, counties, and other local taxing districts report their expenditures and budget data in a like format, Addis believes the entities and the constituents it serves will better be able to compare their efficacy to others.

"Uniformity gives all levels of government the factual information and hard data that then allows us to make the hard decisions. It helps the taxpayers by simplifying the data, making it much easier for our taxpayers to know what we're spending their tax dollars on," Addis said.

Opposing the bill, Rep. Sally Toone, D-Gooding, noted that while transparency is undoubtedly essential, implementing the controller's manual is another unfunded mandate that would be costly for smaller entities.

"I'm just not sure that this bill is for our tiny rural cities and our small taxing districts. We're putting a burden on them," Toone said. "We're giving locals nothing. We're just saying go to your county commissioners, and they will help you. If there is a cost, you have to figure it out for yourself."

In favor, Rep. Rod Furniss, R-Rigby, said others believe it is the first of several moves by the state to understand the local governments' ins and outs.

"If this bill goes through, it will be the gift that keeps on giving," he said. "Right now, the counties just look at their individual county, but once we have all the data we'll be able to look at expenses regionally and see if some counties can combine overall expenses and maybe reduce those costs."

HB 73 will next head to the Senate for consideration.