Grades passed out to Israeli cities

Ra'anana, Kfar Saba and Haifa are the three most "transparent" cities out of 15 large cities in Israel.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Ra'anana, Kfar Saba and Haifa are the three most "transparent" cities out of 15 large cities in Israel, according to a survey by Shvil Israel, the local branch of the International Transparency Organization, reports www.local.co.il. The organization recently tested all the cities in the "Forum of 15" coalition of large Israeli cities, examining the ease with which the public can get information about matters such as local taxes or a city's annual budget. According to the report, while all 15 cities have websites, only four (Kfar Saba, Haifa, Beersheba and Rishon Lezion) display their cities' annual budgets in their websites. Nine cities required a letter or a personal visit before providing information about their budgets, and two (Ashdod and Netanya) would not provide this information at all. Similarly, the survey found that eight cities display their city comptrollers' reports in their websites and four others require a personal visit to obtain the information, while three (Givatayim, Holon and Rishon Lezion) would not provide this information at all. Thirteen cities display their organizational structures in their websites, with the remaining two (Tel Aviv and Petah Tikva) refusing to provide this information. A Shvil Israel official said the survey showed that local authorities in this country "still have a long way to go" in demonstrating transparency, with even those authorities that came in first place failing to display information sufficiently fully for the public.