Rotterdam to make all spending data public

The Rotterdam City Council approved a D66 motion to publish all the municipality's expenses on the internet. The expenses of some municipal departments will be available online from next year. The rest of the organization will follow after an evaluation, ANP reports. These expenses involve both major expenses and smaller cost items, such as councilors' expense claims. Under the current system, those who want to inspect the municipal cash flow often have to submit a formal request, which can take weeks or even months to process. This motion was submitted by D66 councilor Sameul Schampers. He thinks that if citizens have more information on government spending, they will be able to exert more influence on the councilors' choises. This will also make citizens more involved in local government.