State auditor spearheads accountability initiative

State Auditor Kathy McGuiness announced a statewide initiative May 26 to track how Delaware entities spend the $1.25 billion they are receiving in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

When ARP was signed into law this spring, McGuiness said, she wondered about Delaware’s share of those funds, an unprecedented amount going to school districts and county and local governments.

“As the state’s fiscal watchdog, I wanted to find the best way to ensure this money is spent on what it’s supposed to be spent on, helping Delawareans recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” McGuiness said during an event on the Baywalk in Dewey Beach.

McGuiness said she learned about an interactive, online program used by West Virginia’s state auditor to track state spending of the first federal stimulus fund, known as the Cares Act. McGuiness said she reached out to OpenGov, a cloud software developer that serves state and local agencies, to develop Project: Gray Fox, named after Delaware’s state wildlife animal.

“The premise of this initiative is simple,” McGuiness said. “Delawareans will be able to see and compare how their counties, municipalities and school districts are spending the millions in tax dollars they receive from the American Rescue Plan, known as ARP. Through this project I’m encouraging every Delaware citizen to become a citizen watchdog over these funds.”

Government officials will enter ARP spending data into a secure portal each week, McGuiness said, and the system will provide easy-to-read graphics for the public to review how officials have spent federal funds.

School officials won’t have to enter data into the portal, McGuiness said; her employees will input school financial information from state accounting data, allowing school officials to compare and contrast their spending with other districts.

The initiative works to ensure government transparency and accountability, McGuiness said, noting that in 2016, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund gave Delaware a C+ rating and ranked it among the bottom 10 states in providing online access to government spending data. In 2019, Delaware received a D+ rating, she said.

“That means we're moving in the wrong direction,” McGuiness said. “As the First State, we should be the first in fiscal responsibility and the first in accountability, and that's part of what I'm hoping this project will do for Delawareans.”

Dewey Beach Mayor Dale Cooke said Dewey is one of the smallest towns in Delaware, with a very small paid staff, so any process that makes it easier to document information and keep residents informed is welcome. 

“This program is definitely going to help us input everything into the system so that we have less casework on our part and more transparency and viewability for our citizens,” Cooke said.

Lewes Mayor Ted Becker said the funds Lewes will receive represent about 25 percent of the town’s annual budget. 

“Transparency in the expenditure of these public funds is critical, because all Delawareans should be confident these funds are being used to benefit their respective communities,” Becker said.

Once built, the ARP fund tracker can be viewed at auditor.delaware.gov.