Performance Measurement, Strategic Planning, and Performance-Based Budgeting in Illinois Local and Regional Public Airports

Abstract

The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) mandates federal agencies to develop and link strategic plans and performance measures into a budgeting sys-tem that allocates resources based on performance. Because the Act only applies to federal agencies, not many local governments have adopted performance-based budgeting; however, most state governments have used it well ahead of the GPRA. This research focused on determining the extent of airport facilities'use of (a) performance measures,(b) strategic planning, and (c) whether performance measures and strategic planning are integrated into a performance-based budgeting system. A total of 21 professionally managed public airports were studied, representing a mix of airline-based and general aviation facilities. We found that although strategic planning is a management tool utilized by 40% of airport administrators, performance measures are sparingly used, and budget allocations are not based on performance. Furthermore, budgeting is not linked to strategic plans or performance measurement.