Management.

• Position: From the Library - Outlines information available in a government performance report evaluating the nation's largest counties

"Grading the Counties: A Management Report Card"

Barrett, Katherine; Greene, Richard; and Mariani, Michelle Governing, January 2002, pp. 20-89.

The latest installment of the Government Performance Project, this extensive report evaluates the performance of 40 of the nation's largest counties. The methodology used to grade the counties was a combined approach that included both survey research by the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and extensive interviews by Governing reporters. The grading criteria are divided into five categories: financial management, capital management, human resources, managing for results, and information technology. Overall, Arizona's Maricopa County and Virginia's Fairfax County received the highest marks (both received an average grade of A-), while New York's Nassau County and Pennsylvania's Allegheny County were at the bottom of the list (with average grades of D- and D, respectively). Interestingly, the 40-county average grade for financial management was a B-, the highest average grade of the five categories. The financial management category included four specific criteria: Does t he government have...