Perceptions of Performance Measurement and the Practice of Performance Reporting by Small Cities

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT is the use of quantitative indicators to regularly measure the results and efficiency of public programs that clients, cus? tomers, or stakeholders expect (Broom et al. 1998; Hatry 2000). In 1994, the Governmen? tal Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is? sued Concepts Statement No. 2 on Service Efforts and Accomplishment Reporting, which states that performance information should be an integral part of General Purpose External Financial Statements and suggested the pos? sibility of linking performance measurement to state and local financial reporting (GASB 1994, paragraphs 3SM-9, 15-20.) Requiring state and local governments to report perfor? mance measurement results if they adopt gen? erally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in financial reporting would be a watershed in the historical development of performance measurement.