The $4.3 million fraud that took place in the Davis School District over five years may not have happened if Utah had an online database of detailed financial information for the public to view, according to proponents of a measure now before the Utah Legislature.

Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, is proposing such a database that would require governments, school districts and other taxing entities at the state, county and city level to provide ongoing, detailed information regarding every state tax dollar gained and spent.

Niederhauser said there are some large potential benefits of greater transparency.

"You get fewer public requests for information, less waste and fraud, and earlier discovery of waste and fraud," he said.

Senate Bill 38 would create a Web site run by the state Division of Finance. It also would set up a board consisting of various government representatives that would develop plans and recommendations to help implement the database.

The bill would allocate $480,000 in startup funding and $250,000 for annual operations.

"I just feel everybody needs to be transparent," Niederhauser said. "That's what taxpayers want."

Some groups are concerned that a transparency mandate might further overburden already strained government budgets and workers.

"If cities and towns have to post every check that's been cut, the level of detail would place an exceptional burden on local governments," said Lincoln Shurtz, director of legislative affairs for the Utah League of Cities and Towns.

Niederhauser said the state government in Missouri implemented a transparency database without any additional funding or resources.

Several other states have similar projects, including Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Florida, Hawaii and Minnesota, he said.

"This is a wave that will engulf the whole country in the next five years, where taxpayers and citizens will be able to go on the Internet and see their government's finances without having to make a formal request," he said.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said that with most governments now using digital accounting, a transition to the database should not be difficult.

The potential benefits are clear, Stephenson said.

"If this had been in place 10 years ago, all the recent fraud in our school districts might not have occurred," he said.

He and others specifically mentioned the Davis School District, where employees John and Susan Ross stand accused of embezzling $4.3 million from the district over a five-year period in a textbook-copying scam.

"They converted a fortune to their private use," Stephenson said. "If those checks were online, I imagine there would have been questions from citizens."

Niederhauser said there will be more discussion and possible amendments on issues such as size thresholds and other requirements for who has to participate, what level of detail must be provided and other matters surrounding the database.

SB 38 survived a committee hearing Friday and is headed to the Senate floor for debate.