ATWATER: Transparency Ensures Accountability
By Space Coast Daily // September 18, 2014
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Below is a statement released by Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater regarding Florida’s Accountability Contract Tracking System:
“Transparency ensures accountability, and Floridians have a right to see how every penny of the money they send to their government is spent. One of the ways we are making such transparency possible is through Florida’s Accountability Contract Tracking System, also known as FACTS.
On our FACTS website, you can view more than 63,000 active state contracts and 278,000 purchase orders.
In addition to making this information available online, the Department of Financial Services has trained more than 3,500 contract managers in the past year while also providing assistance in the drafting of state contracts to make state contracts stronger and ensure the deliverables are clear.
We have also conducted nearly 3,000 contract reviews over the past four fiscal years.
With the help of our department, more than two-thirds of Florida’s state agencies have improved their deficiency rate by writing better contracts. The latest audit of state contracts also revealed a 14 percent improvement in state contract accountability.
In 2014, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) gave Florida an A- for transparency, the third highest score in the nation and a tremendous increase from Florida’s D rating in 2011, making it the second biggest improvement in the nation from 2011 to 2014.
I am proud of the work we are doing to make Florida more transparent, and I remain committed to improving on these successes.”
To visit the Transparency Florida website, go to myfloridacfo.com/
