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City of Laramie posts demo video showing features of Open Finance data tool
Summary
The City of Laramie released a second instructional video demonstrating visualization, budget comparisons and export functions in its Open Finance data tool, and directed viewers to accounting staff and budget publications for questions and deeper review.
The City of Laramie posted the second of two instructional videos demonstrating its Open Finance data tool and how users can view, filter and export the city’s financial data, an accounting department staff member said in the presentation.
The video walks through display options including dollar or percentage views, sortable lists, a colorful pie chart and an “over time” graph that can show totals or selected funds and toggle between original and revised budgets. The presenter said the revised budget view reflects appropriations including amendments approved by the Laramie City Council; the original budget view shows the budget as initially adopted.
The tutorial emphasizes that users can view “actuals,” or spending to date, and can scroll to see the raw data that populates the graphs. “One of the best things about Open Finance is that we aren't limited to using the display options available here,” Accounting Department staff said in the video.
The presenter demonstrated an export button that downloads an image of the displayed graph and a comma-separated values (CSV) file containing the underlying data. The video notes that the CSV can be opened in common spreadsheet programs such as Excel and Google Sheets. The presenter also pointed viewers to budget publications listed in the video’s resources for additional context on the city’s funds and suggested contacting accounting@cityoflaramie.org for questions: “If it didn't or you have lingering questions, please email accounting@cityoflaramie.org,” the staff member said.
The video is the second in a two-part series; the first video (linked in the description) covers navigation and filtering. The tutorial is presented as a general overview and does not include a specific release date or additional policy action by the Laramie City Council.
