Executive Summary
Based on responses from local government participants, we are able to share valuable feedback that allows governmental organizations to compare their own performance, accomplishments, and challenges with similar entities across the United States. This report highlights trends across state and local governments in how entities are handling a variety of issues and provides recommendations on changes that need to be made to better prepare for the future. Such topics we address, in addition to those previously mentioned, include COVID-19, financial reporting, and risk assessments.
COVID-19 brought both challenges and opportunities, but with it also came new risks, including fiscal pressures, that created the need for local governments to increase mitigation of those risks around a remote workforce, cybersecurity and other areas.
Highlights from this year’s results include:
- A competitive salary and career advancement are the most significant barriers to recruiting and retaining talent
- Retirement is the most common factor attributed to turnover
- While insufficient budget or funding was identified as the main barrier to implementing new technology, respondents were almost twice as concerned about having enough budgeted funding for the replacement of aging infrastructure
- 70% of respondents feel only somewhat prepared for a cyber-attack
- Although 82% of respondents believe the increased use of technology will be necessary to keep costs under control, 51% of the respondents still require paper based or manual steps for most internal administrative processes
- Very few entities are using cryptocurrency, with only a few considering using it in the near future
- Less than half of the respondents received $10M or less in Coronavirus Relief Funds
- 74% of respondents have not started or have just begun the implementation process of GASB 87
What’s Next for Local Governments?
There’s a lot at stake for counties, cities, schools, and authorities as the world settles into the new normal. While local economies try to bolster back to pre-COVID norms, local governments should keep their focus on scaling their workforce talent and finding ways to solve local infrastructure, connecting with citizens, improving technology and streamlining cost and efficiencies.
Is your next step to adapt your processes and controls for a changing requirements, manage risk, or meet regulatory requirements, or a combination of these?
Whatever your immediate or long term needs, our professionals can support you, so connect with our Government team today.
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