Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Breaking News:


Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry has passed away after a brief battle with cancer.

Pence Introduces New Performance Metrics

Governor Mike Pence announced Monday that, for the first time, Indiana will tie two percent of state agencies’ budgets to a series of performance metrics.

At the beginning of each fiscal year, the governor sets reversion goals for state agencies – a percentage of the money each agency receives from the state budget that’s returned to state coffers at the end of the year.  Agencies typically meet those goals by finding ways to cut costs or increase efficiency. 

For the fiscal year starting in July, state agencies can begin receiving reversion relief, reducing the percentage of their budgets they have to send back. 

State Budget Director Chris Atkins says agencies earn that relief by meeting or exceeding a series of benchmarks.

“The governor wants to set very aggressive expectations for his agencies,” Atkins said. “He knows that he’s got the personnel in place to get the job done and achieve these goals and he expects them to stretch themselves to get it done.”

The governor has set a reversion target of three percent for state agencies this coming fiscal year.  Agencies can reduce that target to as low as one percent by achieving benchmarks called key performance indicators.  57 percent of the indicators will be new this year, while the others are carryovers from the previous administration. 

New indicators include lowering the infant mortality rate – a goal for the Department of Health – and increasing the total number of actual jobs created through Indiana Economic Development Corporation deals.