County Launches New Service for Government Transparency

By BILL BELLEN
OTSEGO COUNTY

Those who have been following Otsego County Board of Representatives meetings the past few months may have noticed a recurring topic of discussion—Clear Plan. Rep. Andrew Marietta, chair of the Technology and Strategic Planning and Performance Review and Goal Setting committees, has been keeping the board informed on progress toward the public rollout of the Clear Plan program, something that he and Otsego County departmental employees proudly accomplished on Friday, October 10. Representing a major step forward for government transparency within the county, this new software is poised to offer new and insightful understandings of the county government’s goals, strategies, and funding in years to come.

Clear Plan is an additional module of the longstanding budgetary software employed by the county, ClearGov. Described by their website as a program to help “plan, budget, and engage with confidence,” ClearGov is widely utilized by other municipalities and is the official budgeting software of the New York State Association of Counties.

While ClearGov’s primary purpose is to assist in the budget process, the Clear Plan module is focused on the categorization and publication of strategic plans for municipalities and their governmental departments. As conversations around constructing a new, comprehensive, and operational strategic plan for Otsego County began in recent years, the county board and County Administrator Steve Wilson decided Clear Plan was the most effective and efficient service to go with.