New Jersey Website Allows Citizens To Compare Spending By Municipality

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – An independent effort is underway in New Jersey to allow taxpayers to compare municipal budgets side by side online to see if they're getting, in effect, the best bang for their buck.

The people behind TownStats.org have posted some five dozen municipal budgets online.

By June, Mark Magyar of The Independent Center hopes to have figures from all 566 municipalities across New Jersey. It'll allow you to put the numbers from up to three towns side by side.

Magyar explains what the site will provide data for, "Population, crime statistics, numbers of police officers, average property tax bills, average property tax rebates, average home value, and the number of municipal employees that work for the town."

That's no easy task given they have to take those figures from budgets submitted to the Department of Community Affairs on paper. The group is pushing the Christie Administration to require municipalities file a two-page, electronic summary with those facts and figures so they'll be easier to post in future years.

Reported By David Madden, KYW Newsradio.