FY 1999 Annual Performance Plan

Financial management improvement is a key element of management reform at HUD. Four key problems have been identified:

• better coordination of budget process
• less duplication and more efficiency in accounting operations
• stronger internal management controls
• need for better system integrity.

The Budget Office is now integrated into the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. The budget was submitted on time. Our accounting operations will be consolidated from ten field operations to one location. By the middle of FY 1999, we will process all transactions in Fort Worth.

In order to enhance the Department's internal controls and monitoring, we have done two significant things. First, we catalogued all of the material weaknesses and other management deficiencies and have begun a series of bi-monthly meetings to obtain resolution of the problems. Second, we have established a new Risk Management Unit which is working with the managers of our newly-created Centers to help conduct the proper front-end risk assessment so that future problems can be avoided.

HUD needs to achieve better system integration. We have too many systems, but more importantly, we have systems that are not compliant with proper financial management standards. To address this, the Department has created a Financial Systems Integration project. The objectives of this project are:

• One standard general ledger. Phase I of the integration of the FFS software is targeted for completion by October 1, 1998. At that time we will have a new standard general ledger in FHA and the ability to record summary level transactions in one system. By October 1999, we will have the entire Department on one general ledger.
  

• Data clean-up. We have begun a data clean-up project with all of our partners. A standard general ledger without accurate data would be meaningless.
  

• Refine executive information systems. The development of the HUD 2020 Mapping software has achieved significant results. Our goal is to refine this process and then expand its use. For further information on the HUD 2020 Mapping Software, please see the Management Reform Plan.
  

• Reduce the number of systems. We have begun with FHA where we have the greatest opportunity to eliminate and consolidate systems. Although it is not possible to have one system do all that HUD needs done, it is possible to have one integrated data system, where all data is clean, all accounting data is fed into one standard general ledger, all systems are compliant with standards, and management information is available to all managers in the Department.
  

  HUD has made tremendous progress in achieving system compliance. In FY 1997, we reduced the number of non-compliant systems from 85 to 38. Our goal is to have all of our systems compliant by December 1999.

Issues and Problems

In addressing the issue of resource allocation within the Department, we needed to be able to answer the following question: "Are we doing what we said we would do, and if not, what will it take to do it?"

The Department does not have a single, integrated system that supports the resource allocation process or links resource allocation to performance. Although some program elements within HUD have developed their own systems for allocating resources, they generally have not been fully developed and do not link resource allocation to performance, as required by GPRA. Currently, the Department has no mechanism for tracking resources as they are applied to performance measures.

Departmental work measurement and time reporting systems, developed over the last 30 years, are no longer available and the Department has no system or process for determining FTE expended against performance measures

To address these related deficiencies, the Department intends to work jointly with the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA). The aim of this joint effort is to:

• develop criteria that incorporate the essential elements of a resource management system;
  

• examine resource allocation systems in other organizations that can serve as best practices models for HUD; and
  

• choose the optimum methodology or approach for resource management throughout the Department under the HUD 2020 Management Reform Plan

The approach chosen will allow the Department to identify, justify, and match resource requirements for effective and efficient program administration and management. This will enable the Department to:

• Estimate resource for budget formulation, execution, and analysis; and
  

• Link resources to performance measures in the Means and Strategies section of the Annual Performance Plan under GPRA.

The methodology should also serve as the backbone for implementing the Department's Resource Estimation and Allocation Process (REAP) as required under the HUD 2020 Management Reform Plan.

Linkage of Performance Measures to Budget

In the far right column of each table of performance measures, there is an identification of the Program and Financing (P&F) category. At the end of this Plan is a one-page table that crosswalks all the P&F to Strategic Objectives and links FY 1999 Budget Authority, Salaries & Expenses and FTEs to the seven Strategic Objectives as listed in the Departmental Strategic Plan and the Management Reform Plan.

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