Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ Categories

Questions & Answers

How do I retrieve my Password?

Lost your password? Please fill in your username. Note that it is necessary that username be specified exactly as when you have subscribed, click here.

back to top

How can I Sign-In or Sign-Up?

You can go to this link to login or sign-up.

back to top

How can I View My Watches?

All your account watches can be found by clicking here.

back to top

Questions & Answers

What can I do if there is an error in my record?

The information on this website is provided by your government employer which is compiled and submitted annually. If you find an error in your record, you should contact your government employer and request that your information be corrected. This is not base salary, but pensionable earnings which can be different then base salary. Pensionable earnings are earned and reported in a given year.

back to top

Where does this data come from?

The material on this website comes from a number of souces and was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act which includes: U.S. Office of Management and USPS.

back to top

Are any federal employees excluded?

The federal employee data excludes the military, departments of Defense and Treasury, FBI, CIA, White House, Congress, independent commissions and independent agencies.

back to top

How can I mail you FOIA/Open Record Materials?

FOIA/Open Record Materials can be mailed to:
 
American Transparency
P.O. Box 970999
Boca Raton, FL 33497-0999

back to top

Why do you post this salary information?

As a public employee, your salary is paid with tax dollars, and is therefore available to the public.

back to top

What if the Texas public school salary data has duplicated employees or appears inaccurate?

Texas public school districts and charter schools report salary data to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS).  The data then goes through an edit process, and the superintendent of the school district signs an acknowledgement that the data is correct to the best of his/her knowledge.  However, if the data is incorrect, the agency does not know unless the district reports the error to TEA. Please see the documents at the following link to understand the data submission process; specifically, please review section 8.1 to understand district and state responsibilities for submitting data to the agency; sections 8.2 and 8.3 to understand data collection requirements and definitions; and section 8.5 to understand data checks applied during the submission process: 
https://www.texasstudentdatasystem.org/TSDS/TEDS/1718A/PEIMS_Data_Standards/

back to top

Where can I find additional details on Illinois State Worker Compensation Claims?

To find out additional details on Illinois State Worker Compensation (IWCC) claims enter the "Case ID" from the State workers Compensation Claims (IWCC) search results into the Case Docket ICWD website and more case details can be found.

back to top

How do I delete my cache and other browser data?

You have control over your browsing data. This data includes things like your browsing and download history and saved form data. Use the "Clear browsing data" dialog to delete all your data or just a portion of your data, collected during a specific period of time.

Chrome - Delete Cache

  1. Click the Chrome menu Chrome menu on the browser toolbar.
  2. Select Tools.
  3. Select Clear browsing data.
  4. In the dialog that appears, select the checkboxes for the types of information that you want to remove.
  5. Use the menu at the top to select the amount of data that you want to delete. Select beginning of time to delete everything.
  6. Click Clear browsing data.

Internet Explorer 9 and 8 - Delete Cache

  1. Click Tools, and select Delete Browsing History
  2. Deselect Preserve Favorites website data, and select Temporary Internet files,Cookies, and History
  3. Click Delete

Internet Explorer 7 - Delete Cache

  1. From the Tools menu in the upper right, select Delete Browsing History
  2. To delete your cache, click Delete files

    To delete your cookies, click Delete cookies

    To delete your history, click Delete history

  3. Click Close, and then click OK to exit.

back to top

Why is my device not showing new data?

The browser cache stores the content of pages so the pages open faster the next time you visit them. If a page you open isn't showing new content, clearing the cache may help.

back to top

What is a "Watch"?

A "watch" is your way to flag a government unit. You will be notified by us via email once new data becomes available. This is a feature you can turn on/off from the employer detail page.

back to top

How many records are returned?

Only the first 10,000 records will be displayed. Anything over this limit should be filtered.

back to top

Questions & Answers

Are Donations Tax Deductible?

Donations to Open The Books, a project of American Transparency- 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan, charitable organization- are tax deductible for federal or state income tax purposes.

back to top

Can I mail my Donation?

You can mail us your donation.
 
American Transparency
3 Grant Square #355
Hinsdale, IL 60521

back to top

Financial Information You Choose to Provide

Donors are free to choose to make an online gift, and will have to provide credit card billing information.  Whenever this information is collected and transferred over the Internet to our secure server, it is encrypted using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. SSL technology is  the industry standard security technology and is designed to protect sensitive information.  Whenever online donations are allowed, the url at https://www.openthebooks.com/donation/ will display a third party secure site seal to assure our Web site is authentic & all transactions are secured with SSL encryption.  Please make a secure online donation and the credit card information that you provide will be used only to process your gift and will not be used for any other purposes.

back to top

Questions & Answers

What are your State Nonprofit Disclosures?

Certain states require written disclosures for nonprofit organizations soliciting contributions. Individual state disclosures are below.

Florida: A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE, WITHIN THE STATE, 1-800-435-7352 (800-HELP-FLA), OR VISITING www.FloridaConsumerHelp.com. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. Florida Registration #CH52944

Georgia: A full and fair description of our programs and our financial statement summary is available upon request at our office and phone number indicated above.

Maryland: For the cost of copies and postage, from the Office of the Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, MD 21401.

Nevada: Contributions may be tax deductible pursuant to the provisions of sec. 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. ¤170(c).

New York: Upon request, from the Attorney General's Charities Bureau, 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10005, 1-212-416-8686 or www.charitiesnys.com.

Pennsylvania: The official registration and financial information of American Transparency may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999.

Washington: From the Secretary of State at 1-800-332-4483 or http://www.sos.wa.gov/charities/

REGISTRATION WITH A STATE AGENCY DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THAT STATE.

More information about state disclosure verbiage and charitable state registrations.

back to top

Are there any data disclosures?

All information published on this website has been compiled using the Freedom of Information Act. If there is an error in your employment record, please contact your government employer and we will update in the next addition. For security purposes, additions or corrections will only be updated in this manner.

back to top

What is our Charity Navigator Rating?

Our Charity Navigator Rating can be found online, click here.

back to top