摘要:

Governments across the country have embarked on performance‐based government efforts. Typical goals of these efforts are to clarify the mission and priority objectives of government with an emphasis on the expected results, to develop mechanisms for monitoring and reporting the achievement of those objectives, and to use this information to make decisions about government activities, including making government more accountable Although many governments have reported success in establishing their performance‐based programs, we found ourselves wondering whether any of these programs are showing signs that they can be sustained over time. Are performance‐based reports or budgets being used by managers and policy makers? Are the performance programs maintained after implementation? If so, what are the factors critical to success?To answer these questions, we reviewed performance‐based government efforts in progress throughout the country with a focus on the initiatives of five states.1 This discussion begins by describing the efforts in those five states: the stated need, the approach, and the results to date. We then discuss the elements of success and the lessons learned from these performance‐based government

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01050

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In 1994, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) adopted and published Concepts Statement No. 2, Service Efforts and Accomplishments Reporting} Although service efforts and accomplishments (SEA) is not a common term, this statement establishes the foundation for the subsequent adoption of reporting requirements that may expand the boundaries of reporting to significantly increase the amount of non‐financial information that states and municipalities will report, as well as the cost of external reporting Budget analysts are among prospective users of SEA information. A study of comment letters filed in response to the exposure draft, which preceded Concepts Statement No. 2, shows two divergent views of SEA reporting requirements.2 Support for SEA reporting requirements is grounded in a vision of the potential benefits of SEA reporting;3 opposition to SEA standards is grounded in concerns about potential consequences of instituting reporting requirements.4 The strength of opposition to SEA reporting requirements suggests that consideration of the rationale for standards setting is appropriate. In this article, commonly expressed concerns about reporting requirements are incorporated into five questions. Analysis of these questions evidences the weakness of the rationale for SEA standards as distinguished from the rationale for voluntary SEA reporting.Two proposals are advanced to address concerns about SEA reporting requirements. First, adoption of models of information use from the disciplines of public administration and political science is encouraged. Second, modification of the standard setting process to reflect the non‐financial domain of SEA is advocated. Thus, it is proposed that standard setters adopt approaches that emphasize cross‐disciplinary research, cooperation with other organizations, and active extension of due process to new stakeho

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01051

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In 1991, the United States Department of Defense established the Defense Business Operations Fund (DBOF). The DBOF includes support activities with a business volume well in excess of $80 billion annually, and it provides activities and services that are essential to the operation of the military forces. The necessity to reduce the defense budget and to find innovative ways of producing more defense than would be possible under prior operating and management arrangements caused the Department of Defense (DoD) to look to alternative economic and business models.The changes made are dramatic. The implementation has not gone as smoothly as some observers expected, and Congress and former Secretary of Defense Aspin each considered reversing the innovation.This article addresses the problems and the promised improvements in the context of the economic and management concepts undergirding the DBOF, concepts that are dramatically different than those previously applied in the DoD

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01052

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article examines four types of aid programs to thirty‐nine large U.S. cities federal revenue sharing, federal categorical aid, state general aid, and state categorical aid. The central finding is that there is significant variation in the magnitude of property tax reduction resulting from different types of state general aid. Property tax credits and exemptions are less effective approaches in reducing local property taxes than are state lump‐sum aid or city use of piggybacked taxes Categorical state and federal aid mostly fund additional city spending and have small but important stimulative effects on the revenue side These results suggest that differences in the design of aid programs have important implications for their fiscal impact and their effectiveness in reducing property ta

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01053

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The passage and implementation of the San Francisco Children's Amendment, or Proposition J, in 1991 represents an important expansion of the increasingly common strategy of budgetary earmarking by human service organizations. The core of the initiative was a city charter amendment that earmarked a portion of existing property taxes and established a baseline budget for children's services. Of these provisions, the baseline budget has proven most important in preserving children's services and preventing any substitution effects in a time of increasing fiscal stress for the city/ county of San Francisco.This case also illustrates the role of a strong political appeal in passing technical budgetary initiatives over the objections of elected officials and others. While there was concern about the reduced flexibility created by earmarking a city's budget during a period of retrenchment, this concern was overlooked because of the overwhelming political support for the children's cause.However, conflict between groups was created by the measure as groups fought to be included in the provisions of the amendment and over whether each group had obtained its fair share of funding.

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01054

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01055

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY