The Link Between Program Performance and Budget
John P. Comeaux, Director
Nevada Department of
Administration
ABSTRACT:
Nevada statutes have required performance measures in every program’s
budget for a decade. Early measures
concentrated on inputs and outputs. We
have seen improvement over the years, as some agencies have started to measure
quality, timeliness, efficiency, and outcomes. These measures are used to make
decisions in both the executive and legislative branches. The Department of Administration and its
Budget and Planning Division have promoted performance measures as a management
tool for agency heads, allowing them to monitor how well they are moving toward
achieving their goals. We also believe we get better budget requests from
agencies that plan where they want to go and how to get there -- before they
ask for funding.
1.
Nevada statutes require performance measures in the budget:
a.
NRS
353.205 Sec.1.(b) “…Part 2 [of the budget] must include a mission statement and
measurement indicators for each program.”
b.
NRS
353.210 Sec. 4. “The estimates of expenditure requirements…must include a
mission statement and measurement indicators for each program.”
c.
The
budget includes projected measurements for the current year, and the following
two years that are covered by the proposed budget. It also includes data for the year before the legislature meets,
both what the previous budget projected, and what actually occurred.
i.
Example:
in fiscal year 2004 - fiscal year 2005 budget had
2.
History of requirement
a.
The
1991 biennial legislature passed Senate Bill 154, which added the requirement
for mission statements and measurement indicators in the budget.
b.
This
first affected the fiscal year 1994/95 biennial budget, all 1733 pages of it.
3.
Started with mainly output and input measures in the FY 1994 – FY 1995
budget
a.
Prisons
(now Corrections)
i.
Average
monthly inmate population
1.
output
- caseload
ii.
Total
number of beds available
1.
input
b.
Highway
Patrol
i.
Number
of accidents investigated
1.
output
ii.
Number
of arrests
1.
output
c.
Criminal
History Repository
i.
Number
of inquiries processed
1.
output
d.
Investigations
(criminal and drug investigations)
i.
Number
of arrests
1.
output
ii.
Number
of investigations conducted
1.
output
e.
Peace
Officers Standards & Training
i.
Number
of peace officers attending POST Academy
1.
Input
– caseload
2.
[number
graduated would be an output measure]
f.
Emergency
Medical Services
i.
Number
of licenses issued
1.
output
ii.
Number
of providers trained
1.
output
g.
Hazardous
Material Training Center
i.
Firefighters
receiving training
1.
output
ii.
Number
of classes taught by state
1.
output
h.
Emergency
Management
i.
Staff
hours devoted to: response and recovery planning, warning and communications,
exercising and testing public awareness, as well as radiological maintenance
1.
input
ii.
Number
of training conferences conducted
1.
output
i.
Parole
Board
i.
Number
of parole hearings held
1.
output
ii.
Number
of revocation hearings held
1.
output
4.
Have added more types of measures over the decade, a slow but definite
improvement
a.
Corrections
(was Prisons)
i.
Percent
of escapes to total population
1.
Outcome
2.
FY
2002 actual .0019% projected 0%
ii.
Percent
of offenders incarcerated with prior Nevada convictions
1.
outcome
2.
FY
2002 actual 29.8% projected 26.32%
iii.
Percent
of offenders incarcerated with prior convictions (from anywhere)
1.
Outcome
2.
FY 2002 actual 49.6% projected 43.97%
b.
Public
Safety Technology
i.
System
Uptime – Law Enforcement Message Switch
1.
Quality
2.
Actual
FY 2002 99.38% forecasted 98%
ii.
System
Response Time within 3 seconds
1.
Quality
– timeliness
2.
FY
2002 actual 57.93% forecasted 80%
c.
Justice
Grant
i.
Percent
of sub-grant budgets and other areas of concern negotiated prior to grant
distribution
1.
Quality
– timeliness
2.
FY
2002 actual 90% forecast 45%
d.
Criminal
History Repository
i.
Percent
of criminal fingerprints processed within 3 days
1.
quality
– timeliness
2.
FY
2002 actual 66% projected 95%
e.
Nevada
Highway Patrol
i.
Number
of DUI arrests made prior to crashes occurring
1.
Proxy
for DUI crashes prevented by Highway Patrol, which is outcome measure but we
can’t measure it directly
2.
New
this budget cycle so no projected or actuals
f.
Highway
Safety Grants Account
i.
Ratio of all crashes to commercial vehicle crashes
1.
Outcome – this group inspects commercial vehicles, a larger ratio
means commercial vehicles are involved in a smaller percent of crashes, and
thus are safer compared to other vehicles on the road
2.
FY 2002 actual 40.64:1 projected 33.25:1 so better than expected
g.
Capitol Police
i.
Percent of incidents with immediate resolution
1.
Quality -- timeliness
2.
FY 2002 actual 88.25% projected 80% (so better than expected)
h.
Public Safety Training
i.
Cadet course evaluations on a scale of 1 to 5
ii.
Quality – customer satisfaction
iii.
FY 2002 Actual 4.37 Projected 3.5 so better than projected
i.
Bicycle Safety
i.
Annual percent increase in helmet use
ii.
New measure for FY 2004 – FY 2005 budget – no historical forecast
or actual – project 5% increase per year
j.
Fire Marshall
i.
Average turnaround time per plan inspected
1.
Quality – timeliness
2.
FY 2002 Actual 35 days
Projected 30 days
k.
State Emergency Response Commission
i.
Percent of Community-Right-to-Know information sent within 30 days
of request
1.
Quality - timeliness
2.
FY 2002 Actual 100% Projected 90% so better than expected
5.
Administration’s Budget & Planning Division helps agencies develop
measures
a.
Since
the best performance measures come out of strategic planning, verbalizing where
the agency wants to go, then measuring if it’s getting there:
i.
We
offer a class and facilitation on strategic planning from vision through performance
measures.
ii.
We
even send part of our planning staff out to agencies, helping them write
strategic plans all the way through performance measures
b.
We
stress a range of measures, including outcome, efficiency, effectiveness, and
recommend only one output/caseload measure per budget.
c.
We
stress strategic planning and performance measure as management tools for
agency administrators’ use
d.
We
get better budget requests if agencies first plan where they want to go and how
to get there – before they ask for funding.
i.
For
example Wildlife started using their strategic plan in building their budget
request and presenting it to the Legislature
1.
They
swear by the results
2.
Their
budget analyst reports he was getting better quality budget requests after they
started strategic planning
6.
How used by executive and legislative branches
a.
Executive
branch
i.
Nevada
is still the fastest growing state so almost all our caseloads (inmates,
arrests, investigations, parolees) grow every year.
ii.
Governor
looks at measures on programs where he has particular interest
1.
Example:
Senior Rx
iii.
Agencies
1.
Corrections
a.
Corrections
used the measure number of escapes as justification to request a second fence
at a single-fenced prison that had many escapes; after the second fence was
built, escapes dropped.
b.
Corrections
used recidivism rates to support the request for a re-entry center, assuring
the Legislature that the center would cut measured recidivism
c.
Corrections
has for years used the caseload measure number of inmates to support budget
requests for food, caseworkers, supplies, and medical expenses
d.
They
also use long-run forecasts of their inmate caseload to request new prisons,
showing when they would run out of beds and the effect a new facility would
have
2.
Internal
Audit
a.
Tests
trainees’ knowledge before and after being trained, in watching the
effectiveness of their classes.
b.
Measures
the effectiveness of their audits by tracking the percentage of agencies
implementing their recommendations.
3.
Parks
a.
Uses
their visitor satisfaction survey to help prioritize maintenance projects
statewide.
i.
For
example, complaints about the condition of bathrooms can prioritize bathroom
renovations
b.
Uses
visitation numbers by park and cost of park operations per visitor to adjust
staffing between parks
iv.
Budget
office
1.
The
Parks budget analyst uses the satisfaction survey results in evaluating
maintenance requests
2.
The
Corrections analyst uses inmate forecasts to evaluate budget requests
3.
Our
planning group uses Corrections’ forecasts of new prison needs, generated from
inmate forecasts, in putting together a state-wide long-run capital improvement
plan
b.
Legislative
Branch
i.
Legislative
fiscal staff look at caseload and compare them to increases in budget requests
1.
(why
is the budget requested to grow 7% when caseload is only projected to grow
4% ? ).
ii.
Legislators
look at outcome measures haphazardly
1.
what
is being accomplished in a program the legislator is interested in
7.
Conclusion
a.
Nevada requires performance measures for every budget account
b.
Ten years ago they were
mostly input and output measures
c.
They’ve improved, and now we see many efficiency, effectiveness,
and outcome measures as well
d.
The Department of Administration helps agencies develop
performance measures that will help administrators manage their agencies as
well as help budgeting decisions, starting with helping them write a strategic
plan
e.
Measures are used in many parts of Nevada state government, from
the Governor through budget analysts, in agencies, and by legislators and their
staff. Not in an organized, consistent
manner, but where the measures appear to be helpful indicators.