Dear TransportationCommittee Member:
Onbehalf of the National Taxpayers Union’s 7,300 members throughout Colorado, Iurge you to vote “yes” on HB11-1002.
HB11-1002,sponsored by Representative BJ Nikkel and Senator Mike Kopp, would direct theColorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to design and build a website by July1, 2012 that provides detailed information about departmental expenditures andrevenues. The bill stipulates that the website be publicly accessible andsearchable. Additionally, the bill requires CDOT to integrate the website intothe Colorado Transparency Online Project System (TOPS). A Fiscal Note attachedto the bill estimates that it will cost only $56,067 in one-time expendituresfor Fiscal Year 2011-2012.
Bymaking a modest investment upfront, Colorado will have the potential to savemuch more through a better understanding of how transportation tax dollars arebeing spent. This legislation will build on earlier efforts to provide greatertransparency in Colorado’s budget, including the creation of TOPS. Greatertransparency in budgeting already has saved tens of millions in other statessuch as Texas. Additionally, transparency websites have enabled electedofficials to build better trust with constituents and engage those constituentsin a constructive process to account for state spending. With the Coloradobudget facing significant challenges in the months ahead, it is more imperativethan ever for the state to make every effort possible to find savings, so thatpainful cuts in core public services and burdensome tax increases onhard-working Coloradans can be avoided.
Coloradotaxpayers are counting on you to help ensure that their tax dollars are beingspent properly. For the foregoing reasons, I urge you to support HB11-1002.
Sincerely,
John Stephenson
State Government Affairs Manager
CC: Representative BJ Nikkel, Senator Mike Kopp