Typically, federal organizations experimenting with such budgets have
found that they can achieve better productivity, sometimes with less money
During an experiment at Oregon’s Ochoco National Forest in the 1980s,
when dozens of accounts were reduced to six, productivity jumped 25 percent
the first year and 35 percent more the second. A 1991 Forest Service
study indicated that the experiment had succeeded in bringing gains in efficiency,
productivity, and morale, but had failed to provide the Forest Service
region with a mechanism for complying with congressional intent. After 3
years of negotiations, Washington and Region 6, where the Ochoco Forest is
located, couldn’t agree. The region wanted to retain the initial emphasis on
performance goals and targets so forest managers could shift money from one
account to another if they met performance goals and targets. Washington
argued that Congress would not regard such targets as a serious measure of
congressional intent. The experiment ended in March 1993.