IRS Increases Performance Score

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service today gained recognition for its on-going improvement efforts as the Federal Performance Project gave the agency an overall grade of B minus, up from a C average in 1999.

The Federal Performance Project seeks to provide an independent management assessment of federal agencies. The program is collaboration between Government Executive magazine and George Washington University´s public administration department. It is funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

“The Federal Performance Project score is just the latest indication of the change underway at the agency. Public opinion surveys also indicate improvements in the way people view the IRS,” said Charles O. Rossotti, IRS Commissioner. “We certainly are not satisfied with a B minus, but the trend is in the right direction.”

The Federal Performance Project gave the IRS an overall grade of B minus. It also graded individual areas such as managing for results, human resources, information and finances. Driving the improved overall grade was the information technology sector, which improved to a C from a D. The project cited IRS e-file and the IRS.gov web site as models of e-government.

The highest rated area for the IRS was managing for results, which received a grade of B. The report cited the IRS´s clearly stated mission, well-defined goals, bimonthly performance reviews and new performance measures as positives. Overall, the report noted that negatives such as decreased employee satisfaction, problems with computer systems and lack of management flexibility remain a problem.

Since the IRS began its reorganization efforts, the Roper Starch surveys have shown public approval on the upswing for the past three years. And, the University of Michigan´s American Customer Satisfaction Index recently showed the IRS had the largest favorable gain of the 30 agencies surveyed.

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