Dayton residents can track how city leaders are spending tax dollars and other funding sources using online dashboards.
The dashboards on the city's website are aimed at promoting transparency. People can review information broken into nine categories, such as a survey about housing conditions, water improvements, some police stats and neighborhood initiatives.
Ahbigna Patel-Jones, Dayton director of management and budget, believes these portals give residents valuable insight.
"What we want people to do is to go to these dashboards and review the data," Patel-Jones said. "If they do have questions, be able to ask those questions so we can stay engaged with our residents and have that dialog."
One of the dashboards is "Your Dollars, Your Neighborhood." It tracks money approved when voters passed Issue 6 in 2024, which extended a 0.25% earned income tax. This interactive tool tracks spending in six categories: vacant lot and boulevard mowing, park improvements, Preschool Promise, residential street resurfacing, police staffing and fire/EMS support, and home repair assistance.
Patel-Jones said all of the city’s dashboards are regularly updated.
"A lot of these dashboards are live dashboards, like the police dashboard. Every night as the data is being collected, it updates the dashboard," Patel-Jones said. "The 'Your Dollars, Your Neighborhood' dashboard also works similarly. The financial information is updated as we spend money, because it connects directly to our financial system."
