Definition
The Transparency Score measures how openly a city handles public money, in two parts. Accountability: does the city get its finances audited on time, with clean results, and report them to the federal government? Disclosure: does it publish a complete, detailed budget residents can read?
What goes into it
| Component | What it captures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Audit timeliness | How soon after its fiscal year ends the city files its federal single audit | Federal Audit Clearinghouse |
| Audit results | Whether auditors gave a clean opinion, and whether they reported material weaknesses or doubts about the city's finances | Federal Audit Clearinghouse |
| Financial reporting | Whether the city reports its own finances to the Census Bureau, rather than the Bureau estimating them | Census government finances |
| Budget disclosure | How completely the city's adopted budget covers core financial information | City budgets (CityCites extraction), state filings |
| Spending detail | How much line-item and category detail the city publishes | City budgets, state filings |
Accountability evidence exists for every US city. Disclosure evidence comes from budget documents CityCites collects, available for California cities today and expanding state by state; where it is not collected yet, the score uses accountability alone and shows lower completeness. Statements prepared on a state-required accounting basis are not counted against a city.
Cities without an audit on file
Federal single audits are required only for governments that spend $750,000 or more of federal money in a year. Not needing an audit is not a finding against a city: its audit components are left out, and the city is scored on its other evidence. A city with too little evidence gets no score rather than a low one.
Example
San Ramon, CA
Distribution
4,393 US cities. Highlighted bar: San Ramon (64).
Sources
- Federal Audit Clearinghouse (GSA), single audits of local governments
- U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments and Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (individual unit files) · FY 2024
- CityCites budget-document extraction and California State Controller filings · 2026-09-08
Limitations
- Transparency measures reporting, not financial health or good governance.
- Audit filing dates come from the Federal Audit Clearinghouse; a corrected resubmission can carry a later date than the original filing.
- Budget disclosure is collected for California cities today; other states are being added. Until then those cities are scored on accountability alone.
- Meeting records and open-data portals are not yet part of the score.
Technical methodology
Technical methodology for partners
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