I’m a fan of Green Bay data. And fortunately for myself and other data nerds that have nothing to do but look at numbers on a cold winter night, we’ve got another tool to learn more about where our tax dollars are going.

The Green Bay Tax Calculator (HERE) allows residents to see their property value and how their tax dollars are being spent. Specifically, how much to each Green Bay City Department.

This calculator adds transparency to what can often be a convoluted subject. And hopefully, it will encourage more Green Bay residents to learn more about the different departments.

That is not always the case right now. The Mayor, many members of the Common Council, and the department leaders opened up the budget and no one showed up (story HERE). That’s a serious problem.

Maybe this can help solve that problem.

And it also adds another component to what is an impressive suite of informational tools presented by the city. They’ve got some excellent open data resources over there. Many times, our elected officials and department leaders are looking at the same exact information for their own work, that we have at our own disposal whenever we want it.

I would encourage everyone to make it a point to go on the city’s website to try out the tax calculator and to experiment with the other tools. It will make a you a better citizen and equip you for involvement if you ever do become more active with our local government.