photo by: Joselyn King

West Virginia Auditor J.B. McCuskey explains his office’s new online “Budget Book” that breaks down the entire West Virginia budget and allows the public to see expenditures in specific areas.

WHEELING – West Virginia’s state budget and data on how each department is spending their allocation is now available online.

West Virginia Auditor J.B. McCuskey unveiled the “Budget Book” Thursday before Wheeling officials at the City-County Building.

The Budget Book breaks down the state budget – almost 400 pages when it is printed – into more easily readable sections. The public can click on specific offices and agencies and see their allocation, as well as details on just how that money is being spent.

The Budget Book can be accessed through WVCheckbook.gov.

McCuskey spoke of when he was a state lawmaker, and he and others were presented with a nearly 400-page state budget and expected to vote on it a half-hour later.

The easier format benefits not only lawmakers but also puts “taxpayers on equal footing with the bureaucracy so that they can shape their government,” according to McCuskey.

“Every dollar we spend is the people’s, and it is my job to make sure they know what those dollars bought,” he continued. “If it isn’t buying or producing the results think they deserve, they need to be able to tell their government about it and be able to do so intelligently. That’s what transparency is about.

“It’s not just a website. It’s about giving taxpayers the ability to hold us accountable.”

The Budget Book also contains an interactive component titled “The Surplus Challenge.” The public is asked to indicate what its priorities might be in spending a $1 billion surplus in the state.

Options include tax reform, economic development, infrastructure, education, health, tourism and public safety. The public is asked to indicate what percentage of the $1 billion they would direct to each category.

“You can take out all these different priorities that we set out, and pick how much of the surplus you want to spend on it, and it (the result) goes to your legislators,” McCuskey explained. “They can start to get an idea of what their constituents want. “

He noted there are ample opportunities with the site for teachers to turn it into classroom learning.

“The utility of this is that it is really, really simple,” McCuskey said. “The next great thing would be for us to cause the bureaucracy to add one more thing here.”

That would be columns to indicate how many jobs, how many roads were paved or how many customers were served by an agency with their funding, he continued.

“Is the amount of money we are spending causing us to have better results?” he asked. Current budget information provided to his office doesn’t list such information.

Among those attending the demonstration in the Wheeling City Manager’s conference room were Vice Mayor Chad Thalman and Councilman Dave Palmer.

“State Auditor McCuskey has been a great asset to the City of Wheeling and to the entire state,” Thalman said. “We are happy to continue working with him to benefit the residents and taxpayers. We appreciate his love for West Virginia and his constant desire to make improvements.”