Fundamental to a sound, responsible and publicly accountable municipal and regional government is a mechanism whereby the public may obtain information regarding public budgets, expenditures, and resources in a timely, accurate, understandable and credible fashion.

The Fiscal Monitoring and Accountability Initiative includes efforts that promote:

		transparency at local and regional levels of government;
		the provision of relevant and timely information to the public; and
		the creation of channels for action by an informed citizenry

Working with local community groups, neighborhood associations and others, the Institute will help to develop tools to allow urban residents to assess the fiscal management performance of elected officials and to exercise their vote in an informed manner. The Institute's first publication, 'A Citizen's Guide to the Newark Budget" and a similar publication describing the budgeting process in Essex County are examples of this approach.

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