Tennessee revamps ‘Where the Money Goes’ website

JACKSON, Tenn. — The state has revamped a website that shows residents how counties spend money.

“We call the website ‘Where the Money Goes.’ It’s also known as Transparency and Accountability for Governments in Tennessee,” said John Dunn, Director of Communications for the Comptroller of Treasury.

The website has always existed, but recently, leaders gave it a face lift.

It’s easier than ever to see where your county’s revenue comes from, how much debt it has, the trends of debt and more.

“Each county is unique in its own way. There are going to be counties that issue more debt, that have a lot more growth for example. They need to build a lot more new buildings. Others counties, in fact, there are five counties in Tennessee that are debt free,” Dunn said.

For an example of how detailed it is, look at Madison County.

You click the county, and it brings up these groups of numbers. If you click each number, you can go even further, and see how those numbers come together.

“It’s nice to be able to see that you can really dig deep into those categories,” Dunn said.

While it provides a good snapshot, remember, each county is different and there are certain numbers that actually might indicate growth, rather than bad finances.

“Often times for governments, it makes sense to issue debt, to really spread out the cost of a project over many years,” Dunn said.

All the data comes from the Comptroller’s audits.

While the numbers might not be groundbreaking information, if you want to know where exactly your county gets money and what it does with it, check it out.

“Really make it easy as possible for people to get one stop, easy to find information about their county government,” Dunn said.