Mayor Walsh announces expansion of open data offerings

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced that the Office of Finance and Budget, in conjunction with the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), has launched Open Budget to assist the public’s interaction and understanding of the City of Boston budget. The web-based application, located at budget.data.cityofboston.gov, allows users to explore the City’s budget data, identify city priorities, follow trends, and track capital projects in their neighborhoods.

“I’m committed to transparency and accessibility in my administration, and we continue to look for ways to expand what data is available to the public and how to improve its public interface,” said Mayor Walsh. “The city budget drives the scope of the work the city is doing, so it’s important that the public can have the opportunity to dive into it, and understand how we’re using the budget to make government work for them.”

Open Budget allows users to sort the FY15 $1.88 billion capital budget and $2.73 billion operating budget for each cabinet into a list or bar graph. Each cabinet budget can be further expanded to view planned expenditures for each associated department, as well as viewing each department’s historical operating budget information. The bar graph feature allows users to visualize how the budget is being proportionally allocated, in addition to providing a simple, easy to understand, click through platform. An interactive map enables users to delve deeper into many of the specific projects planned in their neighborhoods.

Open Budget adds to the suite of open data and financial tools available to the public, such as the City of Boston Open Checkbook, which allows the public to view the list of vendors the city is working with and total vendor expenditures, and the City of Boston Open Data Portal.