08/22/2020
First, I have to say “Thank You” to the Meyer Administration for posting the totals by category for County spending and now for where all the Federal Government COVID-19 funds are being spent (as this wouldn't have ever happened in prior administrations), so that's a big hat tip for having some transparency. However, it seems that there should be much more detail provided as to "why" so much has been spent on new Computers & Computer supplies (almost half a million - $431.6k so far) and why they were needed and what those new computers are being used for and even where they are being used.
Also of concern is the "Communication equipment" category, which by definition means hard goods, such as radios, cell phones, etc., and not paper pamphlets, printing cost, or letters, (it's got its own spend category) - Communication equipment is approaching a $1 million of Federal COVID-19 Funds spent, so please tell us what exactly did 'we' buy and where it's being utilized? I doubt funds were used to buy cell phones, since you can toggle through and see that the county only spent a total of just $375.00 for cell phone service (page 4).
When you look at the actual supplies for helping our community, you quickly see just how little in actual support and supplies have been provided to First Responders (Police, Paramedics, All Fire Companies, etc.) and community centers. You’d think this would be the greatest expenditure category of those Federal funds, so that as any people receive the most assistance and help. Maybe there are much more supplies being distributed, but let's show the names of the places, groups and the amounts going to them, please so we can see what’s being done.
$322 Million has been allocated just for NCC to use in the battle against COVID-19 and only $2.67 Million out of $323 Million has been spent 5 months into this pandemic. By comparison, the State of DE received between $900k to $1.2 Billion and we’ll likely never know where those funds were spent! Even IF every test kit cost $100 each, (and they don’t, more like $10-20 each), we could test EVERY person in DE and only spend $96 Million to do so. Again, I’m not casting any doubt on Matt Meyer's desire and willingness to address this pandemic, but once you say you're going to be "open and transparent" then, it's up to you to ensure that a full and complete accounting (with lots and lots of details and explanations) is available for everyone to see. Mostly, where and what those purchase for hard goods and equipment are being deployed and how they’re helping the County battle COVID-19, is what’s needed.
As the saying goes, the devil is in the details and all taxpayers in New Castle County (and DE too, Gov. Carney!), deserve to know exactly on what, where, why and how OUR tax dollars are being spent.
Open Expenditures is part of our commitment to improving transparency by providing a guided view through complex financial information.
