When he retired at 57, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spent three years and $10 million to establish USAFacts, a database to allow citizens and the media to see how local, state and federal government revenues are generated and spent. The data base provides a way to check on the spins that politicians and others put on the handling of tax revenue. (The New York Times, April 17, 2017, by Andrew Ross Sorkin)
The database opened this week to provide the public with an easily accessed, searchable venue. The database allows viewers to gain insight and perspective on budget activities. As Daniel Cooper, engadget, April 18, 2017, writes, “The site will …[allow] people to compare and contrast various data sets. For instance, you can see how many police are employed per region and run it against the crime rates in those areas. Ditto for parking tickets and how much it costs to collect each one, versus how much revenue they generate.”