Hoping to better convey with constituents how the city spends its money, Minneapolis officials are preparing a new website that will visualize the city's $1.2 billion budget.

Understanding the city's budget currently requires sifting through a 521-page document packed with a multitude of complicated revenue sources and spending accounts.

On Monday, city budget staff sought approval to enter into a contract with Calif.-based OpenGov, which specializes in visualizing government spending data. OpenGov serves hundreds of governments across the U.S., including Scott County and Richfield in Minnesota.

"I think it's a big item in terms of how we're able to make our budget relate-able and more accessible to the public," said Council Member Elizabeth Glidden. "We put out a lot of data in the city of Minneapolis, but most of it is not data that you're able to … put into a format that you can see what it might look like."

The new online portal should be up and running by the end of the year, illustrating the city's fluctuating expenses by department and fund through interactive charts. It will feature slightly more detailed data than the city's existing budget format, though not vendor-specific contract information.

The two-year contract with OpenGov is expected to cost less than $50,000. Monday's committee vote is subject to approval by the full City Council.

Council Member Andrew Johnson said he hopes the data will allow the city to compare its services to national peers. "It really enables us to explore to see what others are potentially doing well that we might not be doing, that we might want to do here, and vice versa," Johnson said.

The city recently released some of its budget data in a raw format, which is now being analyzed by private developers at Open Twin Cities, a group promoting better civic engagement through technology.

Eric Roper • 612-673-1732 Twitter: @StribRoper