By State Auditor Doug Hoffer
Evidence-based. Evidence-informed. Data-driven. Results Based Accountability. PIVOT. Vermont policymakers frequently use these terms to indicate that new policies and spending decisions are the result of rigorous, fully-informed analysis.
Too often, though, the promise of these terms is undercut by bad data, incomplete information, and misleading representations from officials.
When state government does performance measurement well, Vermonters are able to determine whether state programs are working well and if their tax dollars are being efficiently spent. When it’s done poorly, though, the information can tell a less-than-complete or misleading story, leading to bad decisions and wasteful spending. At worst, it can be a total waste of time.
Here are some examples we’ve encountered in our work of state agencies presenting less-than-helpful portrayals of government performance:
The City of Burlington’s 2021 Tax Increment financing report counted 150 Burlington High School teachers and staff as jobs “created” by the program, when they have merely moved temporarily out of the PCB-impacted BHS and into the empty Macy’s department store building. The Vermont Economic Progress Council, the state agency that administers the TIF program, acknowledges that “there is no way to verify the TIF District-reported numbers” (p.13). Nevertheless, they continue to report whatever the towns submit to them.
In Measuring Up: Examining performance reporting in the Vermont Annual Outcomes Report, we found the state’s annual outcomes report depicted the percent of Vermont covered by “state-of-the-art telecommunications infrastructure” at a clearly implausible 96.2% (it was based upon antiquated 4/1 download/upload speeds). The report also
