Urban Development Local BodyCost approach stated
Ward-level budgets that residents can actually read
The problem
Municipal budgets are published in formats that make ward-level spending effectively unreadable.
Why it matters
Residents cannot hold a council to account for money they cannot locate.
Proposed solution
Republish municipal budget data at ward level in a plain format wherever the underlying data can be obtained.
How it would be implemented
Volunteer extraction and republication with a link to the official source document for every figure.
Risks, and what we would do about them
Risk
Transcription errors would misrepresent public accounts.
Mitigation
Two-person verification before publication. Always link the official source so any figure can be checked.