Performance Budgeting in Municipal Government

Greater details about how municipalities use performance measures during budget preparation and adoption emerge when performance budgeting is defined as a process rather than a management tool for outcome. Such a definition is justified by the multiple accountabilities associated with public budgeting, including political, financial, and performance accountability. A survey of municipalities with populations of 2,500 and above was conducted in the fall of 2002 to determine the prevalence of performance budgeting in municipal government. This research finds that municipalities of all sizes are building capacity for performance budgeting by adopting performance measurement systems and by augmenting their budget processes with performance results. We also find that performance measures are used to inform budget decisions-especially when the budget request is new or significantly expanded.