“We started looking for budgeting software, in late 2022, knowing that we wanted to have it approved in our 2023 budget. It was approved, and we had a tight deadline. We wanted to build our first online budget book, for fiscal year 2023. So, we signed on with OpenGov in …

“I tell my peers: ‘Run, don’t walk to OpenGov.’ Because they really have made it that easy.”

“Prior to our relationship with OpenGov, we had a homegrown budget preparation tool. It was limited in what we could do, particularly related to things like forecasting and understanding the impacts of different budget decisions.”

“I walked over to the OpenGov demonstration and started asking questions, The clear platform, ease of access to information and the ability to drill down through pivot tables and graphs was really exciting.”

“Now we have all of our financial information online – not only the budget and year-to-date expenditures, but an open checkbook and many other features so everyone can see what’s going on.”

“I was skeptical especially about how the financial information would go in and if it would be in formats that we were satisfied with,” she said. The quick three-month implementation proved easy, however, and Lueck was soon on board. It was very easy to implement, and will be easy to …

“For people to know that they can see the very same information that Council members and staff have is a really big thing in this town, and one of the easiest sells we have in gaining public trust.”

“Having multiple ways for departments to justify their lines was helpful because different people like different formats, and that comfort enables them to have more of a stake in their budgets and what they present.”

“Budgeting is easier than it's ever been for me. With Budget Builder, I don't have to recreate the wheel every single year.”

“We have saved over 90% of our time preparing reports, with OpenGov we can show citizens how we are being fiscally responsible with their tax dollars.”

“OpenGov has absolutely made us more proactive in looking at data and attacking the data, instead of saying, ‘It’s too big."

“The efficiency and accuracy from a finance standpoint are important, and there are nearly zero man hours needed to keep the website up to date and error free.”

“OpenGov is a tool that helps us be more accountable, It’s not a static report that’s just available on our website. It’s something that citizens can use to find what they want.”

“That you can use the portal on your cell phone or iPad also really helps with the accessibility of our information.”

“We’re able to run reports that we were never able to run before. OpenGov makes it very easy for us to see what the total expenditures are across all departments, show it as a graph and see trends.”