Investigate Government Spending
in Minutes
Upload a budget. Paste the ballot measure.
CivicAudit flags every dollar that doesn't match what voters approved.
No credit card required.
Primary Finding
$36.5M
18 programs flagged · 42% of reviewed spending
Risk
72
/100
Potential misalignment between Measure U ballot authorization and FY25 spending
Flagged Programs
Signals Detected
Which programs have no performance metrics?
7 programs totaling $14.2M have zero or missing performance metrics: Gen Insurance/Termination ($4.7M), SURA ($5.4M), Retired Benefits ($879K)...
Case Study
We Ran CivicAudit on Sacramento's Measure U
Sacramento voters approved a 1-cent supplemental sales tax for public safety, youth programs, housing, and homelessness services. We compared the city's FY25 spending against the ballot language. $36.5M didn't line up.
Citywide insurance and employee termination costs funded by Measure U.
The ballot language does not authorize general insurance expenses.
Utility subsidies funded with Measure U revenue.
The ballot measure does not mention utility assistance.
Roof replacements, plumbing, HVAC, and structural repairs for city buildings.
Categorized under “Community Investment.” This appears to be general facility maintenance.
What about your city?
Run the Same Investigation on Your CityWhat Can You Investigate?
Anything where public money was promised for one thing and you want to know if it actually went there.
Did my city's sales tax measure fund what voters approved?
Is school bond money reaching classrooms?
Where did the homelessness funding actually go?
Are police overtime costs buried in the wrong budget?
Did the infrastructure bond fix the roads it promised?
Is federal grant money being spent on what it was awarded for?
How CivicAudit Works
Paste the authorization
Ballot measure, bond language, grant terms, or funding resolution.
Upload the spending data
Budgets, spreadsheets, financial reports, meeting minutes. Accepts Excel, CSV, PDF, PowerPoint, and URLs.
CivicAudit runs the investigation
CivicAudit reads every line item against the authorization. Flags mismatches, missing metrics, unexplained spending. Then you can ask follow-up questions and dig into any program or dollar amount.
Output Includes
Most Government Spending Is Never Reviewed
Oversight boards get hundreds of pages of budget docs dumped on them before meetings. Nobody has time to cross-reference every line item. So most of it never gets looked at.
Manual Investigation
Weeks
Download, read, cross-reference, flag. In your spare time.
CivicAudit
Minutes
Upload, analyze, flag. With evidence.
You Don't Need a Title to Hold Your City Accountable
You voted for it. You have every right to check if it happened. CivicAudit is for anyone who wants to know where the money went.
Oversight boards
200 pages of budget docs before a meeting. No time to cross-reference every line.
School board members
Bond measures and per-pupil funding. Is it reaching classrooms or getting absorbed by admin?
Investigative journalists
Document-backed findings, not anonymous tips.
Nonprofits & advocacy groups
Are public grants actually going to the programs they were told about?
Union reps
Make sure the funding they negotiated actually shows up in the budget.
Anyone
You pay taxes. That makes it your money. That makes it your business.
Why I Built CivicAudit
“I serve on Sacramento's Measure U advisory commission. I spent weeks cross-referencing 93 programs against the ballot language. Most commissioners don't have that kind of time. So most spending never gets examined. I built CivicAudit because I needed it.”
John Cook
Measure U Advisory Commission · Sacramento
Pricing
Your first investigation is free. No credit card, no catch. After that, each investigation is $29. That's it.
First Investigation
Free
Full investigation with all features. No strings attached.
Each Additional
$29
Same full investigation. Replaces weeks of manual work.
This Is Early. I Want Your Feedback.
CivicAudit is a new tool and I'm building it in public. The goal isn't to make a ton of money. It's to put this into the hands of as many people as possible who are doing the hard work of government oversight.
Share your reports. Tell me what worked, what didn't, what you wish it did. Every piece of feedback makes the next investigation better for everyone.
Do you know where your tax dollars went?
Upload the budget. Paste the authorization. Find out.
Run an Investigation