Cap Metro on Board With Transparency

Capital Metro's finances have been a major source of consternation in recent years, both for the agency's staff and for its critics. The critics just got an answer on one of their demands: greater financial transparency. Cap Metro announced Monday that it is the first transit system to be recognized by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs with a "gold" designation for meeting open-books standards, in part because of a new "Financial and Audit Information" page (www.capmetro.org/InsideMetro/finance-budget.asp) that includes an accounts payable check register, a purchase card transaction register, annual budgets going back to 2007, monthly financial status reports, internal audit executive summaries for the past five years, and more. "I am committed to transparency, accountability, and credibility in the way we operate every day," said Cap Metro CEO and President Linda Watson. "We must be open with the manner in which we conduct our business and use taxpayer dollars." The Web page follows a state Sunset Advisory Commission review that recommended greater openness, initiated by Austin state Sen. Kirk Watson (no relation). "I'm pleased my efforts at reform are beginning to show results," Sen. Watson said. "I hope this is just the first of many times that Capital Metro will exceed the community's expectations in such a positive way."