ABSTRACT
Measuring and evaluating performance is a common feature of public management. At the federal level, the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 requires officials to measure and report on their performance in pursuit of goals developed and set forth in performance management plans. A survey of municipalities with a population of 25,000 or more found that 38 percent have programs designed to monitor performance. Performance measurement can be complicated and costly to do right. Budgets may include any of a number of different types of performance measures. The federal government is no stranger to efforts to improve performance. Some of those efforts involved legislation that established requirements for sweeping new management systems in government. Performance ratings draw on information from a variety of sources, including strategic plans and performance reports prepared under GPRA. Congress passed and President Obama signed the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010.
