پیشرفت های گزارش دهی عملکرد دولت شهر (City government)

ABSTRACT Improvements in City Government Performance Reporting

The idea that every local government would publish a report about its nonfinancial performance is over 100 years old. The actual sustained practice of quality performance reporting…..well that history has not yet started, at least not for any sizable group of local governments in the United States. We show the overall status of performance reporting is clearly mixed, with significant issues on both the positive and critical side of the spectrum.

On the positive side: 1) Exhibit 1 shows broad involvement throughout the nation, 2) Exhibit 2 shows substantial progress made in quality and quantity over the past 10 years, 3) a few cities have sustained quality reporting for many years, 4) new forms of support and recognition for preparers are appearing online (Exhibit 5); and 5) national associations continue to support and expand initiatives.

On the negative side: 1) Exhibit 2 shows the number of high quality reports is very low overall and non-existent in some departments, 2) Exhibit 3 shows the average reporting quality is low in each region and department, 3) Exhibit 3 also shows the frequency or quantity of cities that publish reports is low, 4) Exhibit 4 shows that the average score by each criterion is low, 5) GASB’s efforts are vocally opposed by some leaders in accounting, finance and budgeting, 6) it is costly to develop and maintain performance systems, and 7) grant funding has been severely reduced.

An overall conclusion is left to the reader and to the passage of time, but two things are clear: A) huge improvements have been made in the last decade, and B) additional improvements are needed to achieve the century-old vision of widespread quality reporting.