Supervisors Call for Transparency through Creation of COVID-19 Cost Tracker Dashboard

San Jose, Calif.  – In an effort to increase government transparency, Supervisors Susan  Ellenberg  and Dave Cortese have partnered to request that Santa Clara County administration create a public-facing COVID-19 Cost Tracker dashboard.  

The dashboard, which will be proposed at the Tuesday, May 26, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors special meeting, is the continuation of the work that Ellenberg and Cortese have been doing throughout the term of the Shelter In Place order to provide residents with the highest level of transparency. 

“It is gratifying to see gradual movement towards reopening as each week goes by. However, the post-COVID future will be a sobering one that will include hard decisions,” said Supervisor Susan Ellenberg. “In order for those decisions to be responsible and well-informed, we first need a clear view of what has been spent to date, where we still need to spend, and what we can cut that will cause the least amount of harm.” 

Additionally, this dashboard, if approved, will serve as another tool to inform the larger general budget discussions in June that the board of supervisor will be weighing in on and, ultimately, approving.

“We are facing significant budget cuts for the next fiscal year,” said Supervisor Dave Cortese. “We need to know where we are in COVID-19 related costs and spending so that we can plan for our future needs in supporting individuals and businesses who will still be impacted by coronavirus.  Of course, it is also our responsibility to let the public know how taxpayer dollars are being spent to slow the spread of COVID-19. I’ve been calling for more transparency since the County’s first Shelter in Place order was issued in March.”

The proposed dashboard would include data focused on:

• A breakdown of expenditures by Board policy committee
• A breakdown of all expenses by date, type and vendor   
• A breakdown of all expenses by department   
• A breakdown of expenses by expected avenue of cost reimbursement from State or Federal resources   
• A view of expenses incurred aligned to the indicators for lifting the Shelter-in-Place

 This COVID-19 Cost Tracker dashboard would further supplement the County’s growing suite of public-facing data dashboards, including its case count tracker, hospital capacity tracker, testing tracker, and long-term care facilities tracker.