FAIRVIEW — City officials unveiled a $740 million budget this week printed on transparent paper, a first-of-its-kind format they say fulfills a campaign promise to make municipal spending “fully see-through.”
The 412-page document, produced on 24-pound acetate, is legible only when held against a dark background and not at all when stacked, which is how it was distributed to the City Council.
“We wanted residents to be able to look at the budget and see right through it,” said City Manager Douglas Pratt. “Mission accomplished.”
The Republic Ledger obtained a readable copy after three weeks of requests and a brief experiment with a photocopier. It shows that the city’s parks maintenance line was reduced by 18 percent and that $2.3 million was allocated to a “communications modernization initiative,” which produced the transparent paper.
Council member Alicia Grant, who voted against the budget, said she had not been able to read it. “I was told it was available,” she said. “It was available. It was just not visible.”
Mr. Pratt said the city would consider printing next year’s budget on “a heavier stock,” and that a digital version would be posted online “as soon as we can scan it.”
