News-Record.com

The John Locke Foundation put out a report card (PDF) on transparency in local governments. Greensboro and Guilford County didn't come off looking so hot, although neither did anyone else.

(This is the point where I should insert a caveat about Locke being a conservative think tank that would like to see the size of government at all levels shrink. So they're offering this analysis in the spirit of giving taxpayers the ability to put pressure on local governments to cut spending. Whether or not that's your political or philosophical orientation, the information regarding openness is well taken.)

From a Locke Foundation news release:

RALEIGH – Winston-Salem's city government earns a C grade, when it comes to making budget and spending information available online. That's better than the D-plus assigned to High Point and the D grade earned by Greensboro, according to a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.

All three cities fare better than Forsyth and Guilford county governments, which earn grades of D-minus in the new report. Guilford County schools earn a C-minus, while Forsyth's school system earns an F.

Those poor grades are part of a statewide trend documented by the JLF Transparency Report Card 2008, said report co-author Chad Adams, JLF Vice President for Development and director of the Center for Local Innovation. "No North Carolina city or school system in this report earns better than a C grade, and no county earns more than a C-minus."

The report card is designed to spur improvement within state and local governments, Adams said. "This state, home to national banks that update their customers' accounts instantly anywhere around the world, woefully lags in making spending transparent at every level," he said. "North Carolina and its local governments need to do more."

Click here for the full scorecard. And Click here for a bullet point summary. A more globally geared news release is here.

The comment lines are open, just click below.

The nascent town of Pleasant Garden, which seems to have frequent "special meetings," has scheduled another meet-up next Monday "to discuss implementation of a property tax."

If Pleasant Garden opts for its own tax, it would join Summerfield and Oak Ridge as towns bordering Greensboro that have levied a property tax for the first time in the past year. But given the upheaval that has taken place in the town over former Mayor Ron Surgeon and arguments over a town hall, talk of a tax may stir up a bees nest in the rural berg.

The meeting is set for Monday, March 7 at 4 p.m. To read the full notice, click the link below: