Our Mission

The mission of West Virginia Checkbook, sponsored by the West Virginia State Auditor, is to empower every West Virginia constituent with simple-to-understand, accurate government financial information regarding the spending of their tax dollars.

Our Principles

West Virginia Checkbook operates in accordance with three principles: transparency, clarity, and integrity.

Transparency

We strive to provide as much public financial information as possible to the taxpayer to allow them to make informed decisions and empower them to oversee how public elected officials utilize their tax dollars.

Clarity

We strive to make our public-facing reports and sites easy to use and understand, eliminating the need for advanced knowledge in accounting or government operations to understand the bottom line.

Integrity

We provide all of our financial information without bias or spin -- just giving taxpayers the facts and numbers.

Can't find the answer you're looking for? We can research for you.

If you can't find the answer you're looking for (or for more complex research requests) West Virginia Checkbook can research the information for you. Please fill out this form for assistance. We can provide you an answer within one to five business days, depending upon your request.

Please note certain State or local government agencies are not required by law to furnish or report certain data to West Virginia Checkbook. We may have to refer your request to a specific state or local government agency to fulfill your request.

We stand by ready to help 9 AM - 5 PM EST, excluding weekends and public holidays. This tool permits you to select specific State financial transactions and ask questions about those payments directly through the portal. Please see the User's Guide for more information. You can contact us at (304)-558-2251 or toll-free at (877)-982-9148.

What's Included and What's Excluded?

Unless exempted by State or Federal law, the majority of the financial information found on West Virginia Checkbook comes directly from the same accounting databases used by the State and local governments to record financial transactions. This allows constituents to gain a real-time view into the books. Some of the reports and calculators on West Virginia Checkbook are special tools and reports that utilize other sources of data outside these databases to provide financial information. In some instances, we provide reports prepared by other agencies using different sources of financial information, such as the State's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. We provide links to these reports as a convenience to users so they are no longer forced to visit multiple websites to access State financial data.

There are a limited number of State agencies who are permitted by law to conduct their accounting operations outside of the State accounting databases. Some examples of these agencies include:

  • Revenues and expenditures of the West Virginia Housing Development Fund created by Chapter 31, Article 18 of the West Virginia Code;

  • Revenues and expenditures of the West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust created by Chapter 12, Article 7 of the West Virginia Code;

  • Revenues and expenditures of the various Public Defender Corporations in West Virginia created by Chapter 29, Article 21 of the West Virginia Code;

  • Revenues and expenditures of the West Virginia Investment Management Board created by Chapter 12, Article 6 of the West Virginia Code;

  • Bank accounts authorized by the West Virginia State Treasurer for the use of State spending units as authorized by Chapter 12, Article 2, Section 2 of the West Virginia Code;

  • Revenues and expenditures of various individual Bond issues which are authorized by various and sundry sections of the West Virginia Code. However, the Statement of Bonded Indebtedness prepared by the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office which provides a five-year trend look-back of Principal balances of outstanding indebtedness is available in the Transparency Site; and,

  • Revenues and expenditures of the Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Federal Food Stamp Program;

In addition, our local government partners choose the financial data to be presented to the public on West Virginia Checkbook's local government transparency section. We suggest contacting the local government for more information if you are unable to find certain financial information.