BOISE, Idaho — Throughout the pandemic, the state of Idaho has received more than a billion dollars in federal CARES Act funds to help with a wide range of issues.
So, where is that money going and how do taxpayers know it’s being spent responsibly?
A new Transparent Idaho web page has all the answers.
“Every single dime is tracked,” said Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf.
Months ago, Idaho Gov. Brad Little asked Woolf if it would be possible to track the huge amount of funding coming to the state.
“Can we do everything we can do to track these CARES Act funds in the state of Idaho?” he recalled the governor asking him.
His answer was yes.
A notable part of the Federal CARES Act is the stimulus check that millions of Americans received. Another big chunk is going to various government agencies.
“The state agencies, cities, counties, local taxing districts, and the tribes could also receive funding," Woolf said. "That’s what that $1.25 billion, the coronavirus relief fund, was made possible for those entities."
Agencies aren’t just given CARES money to spend in a lump sum though. Part of the accountability process is having agencies reimbursed for coronavirus-related spending so the state can ensure purchases qualified.
Early on in the process, Gov. Little and the Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee set caps for how much each entity could request reimbursement. Now, agencies are making those requests and getting paid back.
“You want to compare what the sheriff spent on this county to that county, we have that built up now,” Woolf said.
The spending reports are very detailed and, according to Woolf, that is a key to transparency, so people understand each line item.
“Here is for this plexiglass, or for this Zoom software, or whatever it may be," he said. "You can look that up and see who the vendor was."
The reports show - down to the penny - how much something cost, where and when it was purchased, and much more.
“For citizens to truly have a feel or know where that money is being spent, hopefully, that builds that trust back up for the citizens to know, 'hey what are my tax dollars being spent on?'” Woolf said.
Another part of the Transparent Idaho COVID data includes tracking small business grants.
There you can see every dollar that has been paid out to small businesses, what that money was spent on, and when the transaction happened.
According to Woolf, this is only the beginning of their coronavirus data organization.
“We wanted to continue to provide anything that is CARES or COVID-19 related, we want to have that available on the Transparent Idaho website,” he said.
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