Cochise County has announced that it is continuing its efforts to promote fiscal transparency by directing residents to the Arizona OpenBooks portal and the OpenGov.com platform. These online tools allow the public to access information about how tax dollars are being spent.
OpenGov.com is a cloud-based platform used by state and local governments for reporting, visualization, budgeting, and open-data services. It enables agencies to publish interactive charts, tables, and budget books so that residents can track financial activities.
The Cochise County Finance team reported that all data for fiscal year 2025 is available on the Arizona OpenBooks portal. In addition, first quarter data for fiscal year 2026 (covering July through September 2025) has been uploaded. The team plans to continue updating the portal with new FY2026 data as it becomes available.
“Publishing timely budget and spending data gives the community a vital window into County operations. Interactive reports and open-data pages help readers filter, research and download information, supporting informed public input and offering transparency to voters and taxpayers,” according to county officials.
These transparency efforts come as education outcomes remain a concern in Cochise County. According to state data from the 2022-23 school year, 70% of students in grades 3 through 8 did not pass the mathematics section of the AASA exam (https://www.azed.gov/), while 76% of high schoolers did not pass the mathematics section of the ACT (https://www.azed.gov/). In English, 62.4% of students in grades 3 through 8 failed their AASA exam (https://www.azed.gov/) and 65% of high schoolers did not pass the ACT English section (https://www.azed.gov/).
Recent results from the following school year show that there have been some improvements: in 2023-24, 27% of high school students passed the mathematics section of the ACT (https://www.azed.gov/), while 28.5% of students in grades three through eight passed math on the AASA exam (https://www.azed.gov/).
The county’s commitment to providing accessible financial information aims to support public engagement at a time when educational performance remains an important topic locally.
