GFOA of the US & Canada

Articles from the Government Finance Review

The Potholes of Performance Management Technology: A New Road and Its Obstacles
(6.2 PDF)
Performance management technology can greatly improve access to the vast amounts of operational data available to local governments. It is necessary, however, to anticipate and avoid a number of potential problems.
Mark A. Smith and Shayne C. Kavanagh

The Road to Financial Sustainability: Planning Challenges

(PDF 2.3K)
Long-term financial planning is a vital discipline for creating and maintaining financial sustainability, but there are many challenges to overcome along the way.
Shayne C. Kavanagh
Supercharging the Long-Term Financial Planning Process: City of San Clemente, California
(PDF 8.5K)
The City of San Clemente found that revitalizing an already successful long-term financial planning process to be a valuable exercise in improving the city’s current and projected fiscal health.
T. Pall Gudgeirsson

Budgeting Technology: A Private Sector Solution for an Enduring Public Sector Problem?
Governments are seeking technology to streamline the budgeting process. Is corporate performance management (CPM) the solution?
Shayne C. Kavanagh and John Ruggini

Public Finance as a Profession
Public service is demanding,difficult work.For most practitioners in the filed,a career in public finance is a conscious choice to serve through skill.
Girard Miller

Moving to Performance-Based Management
(PDF- 4.9 mg)
Rather than reporting performance results, performance-based management is focused on linking performance measurement to strategic planning and using the results as a lever for cultural change. By creating learning environments in which performance measures are regularly reviewed and discussed, organizations can improve the rapidity of learning and decision making, improve performance, and facilitate broader cultural change.
Christinia Altmayer

Making Local Government More Workable through Shared Services
(PDF 4.3k)
A growing number of local governments are turning to shared services arrangements as a means of enhancing service to constituents and lowering costs. This article gives an overview of the many different shared services arrangements in use today and offers advice on how to structure such arrangements.
John Ruggini

Financial Management and Effectiveness in Public Service Organizations:The UK's CIPFA FM Mod
(PDF)
Improving services in the public sector is not just about front-line delivery—effective governance and financial management are also key drivers of effective service delivery. Public finance professionals in the UK have developed a framework for aligning financial management with organizational priorities.
Sue Beauchamp and Carole Hicks

Unlocking the Potential of Your Employees: The Not-So-Secret Secrets of Motivational Leadership
How managers motivate employees to achieve desired results has been the subject of decades of evolving analysis. Recent study and experience has led to one critical generalization: people will be more engaged in their work if they are treated as respected, valued adults who have individual motives, abilities, and preferences.
Lynn A. Moline

Budgeting for Outcomes: Delivering Results Citizens Want at a Price They Are Willing to Pay
The traditional government budget is not organized to deliver results to citizens; it is organized to deliver dollars to agencies, departments, and other governments. Budgeting for Outcomes turns the traditional budget process on its head, shifting the focus from cuts to keeps.
David Osborne and Peter Hutchinson

Make or Buy? Using Cost Analysis to Decide Whether to Outsource Public Services
Many governments are considering outsourcing as a means of reducing costs and balancing their budgets in what is still a challenging fiscal environment. Learn how to analyze whether outsourcing a given service does in fact make financial sense.
R. Gregory Michel

Be Prepared: Long-Term Financial Planning in San Clemente, California
On the brink of disaster during the recession of the early 1990s, the City of San Clemente, California, developed a long-term financial plan that has kept the city on sound financial footing ever since.
T. Pall Gudgeirsson

The Citizen’s Guide to the Nashville Budget: Providing Better Information in Better Ways
Stakeholders have traditionally steered clear of local budgeting for lack of accessible and understandable information. The Metropolitan Government of Nashville is using the Internet to break down these communication barriers and enhance budgetary transparency.
Robert Boydston and William Aaron

What’s Wrong with Budgeting? A Framework for Evaluating and Fixing Public Sector Financial Planning Processes
Few practitioners would debate that public budgeting takes longer and is more intrusive than ever before. Although calls to abandon budgeting altogether are premature, the time has indeed come to improve the traditional practice of budgeting.
Peter Christensen, Jeff McElravy, and Rowan Miranda

Sizing Up the Shortfalls: The States in Straits
A severe decline in revenues,double-digit growth in Medicaid, and new homeland security costs have combined to create the worst state fiscal conditions in several decades.
Nicholas W. Jenny and Richard P. Nathan

Performance Measure Certification in Maricopa County
A key component of Maricopa County’s managing for results initiative, performance measure certification is inspiring confidence in the reliability of reported performance information.
Ross L. Tate

From Scorekeeper to Business Partner: The Evolving Role of Government Financial Executives
By leading the charge to entrepreneurial government and developing nonfinancial competencies, government financial executives can step out of the shadow of their technical expertise and into an expanded role at the policymaking table as valued business partners.
C. Morgan Kinghorn, Jr.

Purchasing Cards Come of Age: A Survey of State and Local Governments
Purchasing card spending by state and local governments more than doubled between 1998 and 2001, fueled by
greater card distribution among public employees and fewer restrictions on usage.
Richard J. Palmer, Mahendra Gupta, Antonio Davila, and Tim Mills

Citizen Participation: Legitimizing Performance Measurement as a Decision Tool
Involving citizens in the development and implementation of performance measurement systems can legitimize such initiatives among elected officials, thereby enhancing their value in the decision-making process.
Alfred Tat-Kei Ho and Paul Coates

Portland, Oregon: A Case Study in Sustainability
The environmental shortsightedness of the past has proven costly to governments. By institutionalizing sustainable principles and practices, governments can ensure a livable future for coming generations.
Timothy Grewe, Susan Anderson, and Laurel Butman

Rethinking the Fiscal Role of the States in Public Education
(PDF 39.7 Kb)
This article offers an empirical examination of the variation in state funding responsibility for K-12 education, considering its impact on equity and innovation in the public school system.
Kenneth K. Wong and Francis X. Shen