johnclary / run-the-data

Visualizing Austin Police Department expenditures from open financial data.

Run the Data ✊⚙️

Run the Data uses open financial data to provide insight into the way the City of Austin Police Department spends its money.

I'm unhappy with the state of policing in Austin. What can I do?

• Attend an Austin DSA meeting
• Vote and volunteer for Jose Garza
• Support and follow the Austin Justice Coalition
• Support and follow Just Liberty
• Tell Mayor and City Council that they should defund the Austin Police Department

This project is not affiliated with any of these organizations

I'd like to learn more about the City of Austin's budget.

Glad to hear that. A good place to start is the City's Open Budget website.

Are there any problems with this data?

Yes, many! As you peruse the site, you'll notice that expenditures are often generic and vague. What the hell are "POLICE SUPPLIES?" Unfortunately, these obscurities reflect the City of Austin's inconsistent procedures when accounting for its expenditures.

I'd like to make a suggestion.

Yes, please. DM me on Twitter or open a new issue.

Site header icons sourced from Yu Luck, MRK, and Gajah Mada Studio via the noun project

Data

Austin Finance Online eCheckbook

• Dataset

• Column definitions

Fields

Name	Description	Example
fy_dc	Fiscal Year,Fiscal year is from Oct. 1 - Sep. 30	2017
per_cd	Fiscal Month," Oct is PER_CD = 1, Sept is PER_CD = 12"	8
dept_cd	Department code,A department is a primary organizational unit used by the City of Austin. Examples of various departments are Parks and Recreation and Austin Police Department.	87
dept_nm	Department name,	Police
fund_cd	Fund code,"A fund is a high level chart of accounts structure. Funds help organize the City's finances. Some examples include the General Fund, Drainage Fund, and the Airport Operating Fund."	1000
fund_nm	Fund name,	General Fund
div_cd	Division code / Program Code,"A program is the secondary organizational unit used by the City of Austin. Each department has one or more programs within it. For example, Parks and Recreation have Acquatics, Cultural Arts Services, Facilities Services, etc. A program can be an organizational entity within a department, or an administrative entity in which expenses can be captured and tracked."	5OPS
div_nm	Division name / Program Name,Program Name	Operations Support
gp_cd	Group Code/Activity Code,An activity is a sub-group under programs that further segregates the organization to track the City of Austin's functions and expenses.	1TAS
gp_nm	Group Name/Activity Name,Activity Name	Air Operations
ocat_cd	Object Category,"A category is a high level grouping of expenses. Some examples are Commodities, Contractual Services, and Expense Refunds."	152
ocat_nm	Object Category Name,Object Category Name	Contractuals
obj_cd	Object code,"The identification code associated with an object of expenditure.  Object is a fund accounting Chart of Accounts element.  It is used to describe types of expenses. An expense category describes the types of expenses. For example, Computer Software, Salaries, and Architectural Services."	6389
obj_nm	Object name,The name of the object code	Maintenance-other equipment
lgl_nm	Legal name,The legally defined name of the company or individual.	AIRBUS HELICOPTERS INC
vend_cust_cd	Vendor Customer Code,Vendor identification number with the City.	VC0000103181
vend_cust_ind	Vendor/Customer indicator,"Vendors and Customers are included in the same table - The indicator of ""V"" indicates that this is an approved Vendor."	V
rfed_doc_cd	Referenced document code,"The actual payment document code (This would include Payment Requests-Matching (PRM), General Accounting Expenditure Documents (GAX), etc."	PRM
rfed_doc_dept_cd	Referenced document department code,Department that created the payment document	8700
rfed_doc_id	Referenced document identification number,The actual payment document number	17050321084
comm_cd	Commodity code,A standardized NIGP commodity code which specifies the product ordered	03535
comm_dscr	Commodity description,Commodity Code description of the product ordered.	Engines and Parts, Helicopter
chk_eft_iss_dt	Check issued date,	0017-05-02T00:00:00.000Z
cvl_chk_sta_dv	Check status,"The Check Status for a payment line in the eCheckbook will either show Paid or Outstanding. The City of Austin reconciles and updates their Financial system with the check status from the Bank once per month. Therefore, a check may have actually cleared the bank and may have been paid, but, would still potentially show as Outstanding until the City does their monthly check status update to the Financial System."	Paid
rfed_vend_ln_no	Referenced vendor line number,"Payment requests can contain multiple vendor, commodity and accounting reference lines. Purchase orders refer to a particular line on the payment request."	1
rfed_comm_ln_no	Referenced commodity line number,"A purchase order may have several commodity lines, the referenced line is the one used for this particular payment"	8
rfed_actg_ln_no	Referenced accounting line number,Each commodity line will have an accounting line	1
rf_doc_cd	Referenced document code,"The actual purchase order code that the document references (This would include Purchase Orders (PO), Delivery Orders (DO), and Contracts (CT), etc."	DO
rf_doc_dept_cd	Referenced document department code,"Code for department, i.e. 1100 = Austin Energy"	8700
rf_doc_id	Referenced document identification number,The actual purchase order number	15122905488
actg_ln_dscr	Accounting Line Description,	Engines and Parts, Helicopter
amount	Payment amount,	227.07
cal_year	Calendar Year,Calendar Year is from Jan. 1 - Dec. 31	2017
cal_month	Calendar Month ,	5

Purchase Order Quantity Price detail for Commodity/Goods procurements

• Dataset

Fields

Name	Description	Example
commodity		44519
commodity_description		Concrete Tools and Accessories (Not Otherwise Clas
quantity		720.68
unit_of_measure		EA
unit_of_meas_desc		Each
unit_price		1
itm_tot_am		720.68
contract_name		Ace Contractors/Spec Proj/trowels, safety gloves
purchase_order		PO620014060203864
award_date		2014-06-11T00:00:00.000
vendor_code		ACE7163805
lgl_nm		HAVERDA ENTERPRISES INC
ad_ln_1		5005 E BEN WHITE BLVD
city		AUSTIN
st		TX
zip		78741-7301
ctry		US
data_build_date		2020-06-08T00:00:00.00

Operating Budget

• Dataset

Attributions

"Data" By Wenjie, KY https://thenounproject.com/search/?q=data&i=2921740"Data" By Wenjie, KY