Coloradans shouldn't have to pay to see government spending

My request to Jefferson County Schools for an excel spreadsheet with 2007 - 2008 credit card spending cost $75. The $75 was a labor fee.

The City of Lakewood charged $150 for 2006 - 2008 credit card spending in an excel spreadsheet. $100 was for labor, $50 was the CD copy charge. I also asked about getting the check register for the City of Lakewood and I was quoted close to $500 in labor costs. I didn't pay for that record because it's too expensive.

RTD charged $100 for credit card spending on paper statements. A portion of this was labor costs and the rest was charges for copies. Then they proceeded to conceal information which violates state statute. It took months to get these records. It was a learning lesson for me.

A certain college quoted $2300 for their credit card spending, obviously too expensive to buy.

Denver Public Schools charged nothing for their spreadsheet. Unfortunately they do a poor job on descriptions and left the cardholder's name out. Good thing it was free.

Most people think our elected officials get to see the spending but that's false. In some governments the information is withheld from the elected officials. I found this in Lakewood, Golden, and in Eagle County.