Utah gets B-plus for spending transparency

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah received the ninth-best score among the states for transparency in spending in a new report card by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.

The state received a score of 88.5 out of 100, and a letter grade of B-plus — and won general praise for searchable, online disclosure of spending and grants.

"But Utah still has room for improvement," said Phineas Baxandall, senior analyst for the group.

He said Utah lacks such things as providing searchable and downloadable formats for economic development tax credits, and lacks adequate information to hold companies accountable for economic development subsidies.

"Given the states's difficult budget choices, Utah residents need to be able to follow the money," Baxandall said.

Utah's transparency website is online at utah.gov/transparency. The U.S. PIRG report is available at http://ow.ly/jr4Yj.