GOVERNOR
Michael O. Leavitt (Republican, elected 1992)
LEGISLATURE
House — 51 Republicans, 24 Democrats
Senate — 20 Republicans, 9 Democrats
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: A
Utah may well be the nation’s model in financial management. Growth and debt levels are managed carefully and well. Current-year expenditures and revenues are in alignment. Carry-forward balances are earmarked for one-time spending — not future commitments — and 25 percent of any surplus goes into the rainy day fund, which is well protected from frivolous use.
The state is very strong at planning. Its population projections show a boom in births that will increase the number of children entering school from about 2,800 a year to a staggering 14,000 a year in five years. With that in mind, the University of Utah is giving tuition breaks for students who want to become teachers.
One secret of the state’s financial management excellence is its superior information technology. Utah has an interactive budget game on its Web site for citizens, so they can try divvying up the state’s money themselves. “Our goal was to educate the public and legislators on the budget process itself,” says Lynne Ward, director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget.
CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: A-
Most of the decisions about Utah’s capital program are made at the central level, frustrating some agencies that would like a little more power. But the centralized system has the positive effect of keeping tight control on project cost and scope and limiting the proliferation of pet projects approved for political reasons.
Back in 1997, Utah implemented a new condition-assessment process, requiring all state facilities to be assessed every five years. This is a good idea, but it wasn’t adequately funded until recently. The state estimates its repair backlog for buildings at about $350 million, but an estimate for deferred maintenance of transportation doesn’t exist, because pavement and bridge maintenance is planned for and conducted independently. “But I’m sure it’s a lot of money,” says Jerry Njord, deputy transportation director.
The Department of Transportation keeps road and bridge projects focused through the use of project managers, who are assigned to projects from the time they’re placed on the department’s five-year plan until one year after completion.
HUMAN RESOURCES: B-
In some ways, Utah is far above average here. It was a pioneer in utilizing a resume database and job-match software and has continued to press forward with new HR technology. Jobs no longer have to go through formal posting if there’s a match among people who have already applied. Training receives strong support in the upper echelons. The state makes good use of mentoring programs and is expanding its distance-training opportunities.
But some emerging problems are hard to ignore. Compensation has fallen far behind the market, and agencies are attempting to deal with too-low pay levels by requesting classification changes, which puts an additional burden on the system, whose 2,500 titles make it unwieldy and difficult to administer. Agencies have been given considerable freedom to make salary adjustments, but without adequate funding. In recruiting and compensation, there are “have and have-not” agencies. Some possess the resources to do a good job. Others don’t.
The grievance process, meanwhile, is cumbersome and lengthy, and the state would benefit from more alternative dispute-resolution practices.
MANAGING FOR RESULTS: B+
Utah has been in the managing-for-results business for a long time. Officials there know enough at this point to be candid about the strengths and weaknesses of the process. MFR will never be the primary driver of budgeting in Utah, they realistically point out, but it can be a potent tool to inform the key players.
The state does a conscientious job at deriving performance measures. There are regular statewide performance reports, with most agencies submitting a report annually. Larger agencies do them monthly or quarterly. Reports are available publicly in a variety of ways, such as posting on the state Web site. Although a number of outcome measures are in place, leaders don’t appear to be driving the process, and some agencies could improve the quality of their measures.
The strategic-planning process in Utah was revised recently to satisfy legislators who hadn’t felt sufficiently involved. The change was not dramatic, but there’s hope that more legislators will buy in to the basic planning document, which is one of the better ones in the country.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: A
Utah has emphasized the notion that better technology leads to better management across the board, and its entity-wide IT systems here are about as good as they get anywhere.
The most impressive part of the whole operation may be the planning and implementation. Each agency is required to produce a report twice a year regarding any IT project that has been proposed or is under development. The agencies submit it via a Web-based portfolio-management system referred to as PlanIT, which supports real-time review and tracking.
The state’s Internet portal — Utah Interactive — is run by a for-profit subsidiary of the National Information Consortium. The portal operator earns its revenue based on the number of transactions it provides to Utah’s citizens, and the enterprise has been in the black since the second month of operation. This model has permitted Utah to bring up a number of services for citizens, such as online renewal of hunting and fishing licenses, without additional fees.
Training of IT specialists, which has not been particularly strong in the past, has improved. The state has allocated more resources and made training more accessible, cost effective and centrally coordinated.
AVERAGE GRADE: A-
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