
Government Operations
Virginia is one of the best-managed states in the nation, as evidenced by its long-standing AAA bond rating, its accolades from the PEW Center on the States, and top marks from other leading national organizations.
Why is This Important?
The challenge for all governments, large or small, is to serve the public trust with honesty, responsiveness, and good stewardship. With a 2016-2018 biennial operating budget of more than $103 billion and approximately 117,000 salaried and wage employees who serve a population of more than 8 million people, Virginia’s state government is necessarily complex.
In addition, Virginia -- whose economy is more reliant than most on federal defense spending and federal jobs -- has recently felt the economic sting of cuts associated with the federal budget sequestration that began in 2012; although those cuts have eased somewhat, Virginia is still dealing with some economic uncertainty as a result. At the same time, amid growing concerns about job stability, health care, and education, there are increasing demands on state government to work better, cost less, and be more transparent.
How is Virginia Doing?
The Pew Center on the States awarded Virginia the top overall grade for government performance in 2005 (along with Utah) and again in 2008 (along with Utah and Washington), based on their assessment of how well the state managed its people, money, infrastructure, and information. Virginia has long been recognized as one of the best-managed states in the nation according to these and similar criteria.
The following sections offer performance data in several broad categories of government operations:
Leadership & Accountability | Finance | Workforce | Information & Infrastructure
Leadership and Accountability 
Virginia was among the first states to develop and sustain the comprehensive integration of planning with budgeting and performance management. Since 2003, state government has made significant progress in establishing an infrastructure that focuses on strategic goals while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations. Performance evaluation and increased accountability are key.
This site, Virginia Performs, is the public face of that performance management and accountability system.
Finance 
Bond Rating. Virginia has held an AAA bond
rating for 79 years, longer than any other
state. This rating reflects a tradition of
fiscal prudence and a culture of identifying
cost-saving measures.
Expenditures. The goal of any government is to provide quality services and needed public infrastructure at the lowest cost possible and without incurring undue debt. Numbers alone for debt and expenditures cannot speak to how well these goals are being met, but do provide an indication of per capita debt and spending across the country.
The latest data indicate that in 2014, state and local government expenditures per capita in Virginia were $9,081, which ranked Virginia 20th lowest among the states and lower than the U.S. average of $10,229. Among regional peer states, per capita expenditures were lower in North Carolina ($8,391) and Tennessee ($8,570), but higher in Maryland ($10,646). Idaho was again lowest in the U.S. at $7,158 per resident.

Debt. 2014 state and local government debt per capita in
Virginia was $7,866, ranking Virginia 26th lowest
in the nation and below the U.S. average
of $9,328. Two regional peer states had lower debt loads than Virginia: North Carolina at $5,035 and Tennessee at $5,309; Maryland was higher at $8,361. Wyoming had the
lowest debt per capita in the nation at $3,386.
Procurements. Virginia’s
eVA procurement system
is an example of an innovative tool
that was developed to
hold down costs. eVA is a Web-based
government-to-business program that
standardizes and streamlines purchasing
and creates a digital enterprise-wide
procurement system. The Pew Center for
the States cites it as a best practice
that has also allowed
Virginia to partially integrate with
the federal General Services Administration
and thereby take advantage
of federal contract discounts. In
FY 2016, 90.8 percent
of all state purchases and 99.7 percent
of the total value of
state procurements were processed through
eVA.
Retirement
System. Established in 1942, the Virginia Retirement System provides pension plans for certain state and local government employees, including public school teachers, law enforcement officers, and state agency workers. Due to various stresses over the past 15 years, the percentage of
retirement system
obligations backed
by current assets
decreased from 107
percent funded in FY 2001
to just 72 percent in
FY 2016. This decline is due to years of lower contributions from the state and localities than actuarially required, as well as lower investment yields during multiple recession years.
Starting in July 2011, a mandate was reinstated for state workers to make contributions (5% of gross pay) to the retirement fund to help rebuild its assets. Subsequent legislation also mandated that the state begin to gradually restore its contributions to the retirement system; as a result, the percentage of state plan obligations backed by current assets rose to 72 percent in 2016. [The funded status for public school teachers was 71 percent in 2016, while political subdivision employee plans were at 90 percent.]
In 2016 the Virginia General Assembly decided to fully fund the employer contribution rates starting in FY17 and FY18, which puts the state as much as two years ahead of its statutory schedule. By fully funding these rates earlier than planned, the state is expected to improve the overall funded status of VRS retirement plans and to reduce future employer contributions.
Workforce 
The
state government workforce is an important
asset that must be managed
effectively to maximize
good service to citizens, as well as government productivity.
The turnover rate among employees decreased markedly during the Great Recession and its aftermath, likely due to economic uncertainty: Turnover went from 14.5 percent in 2006 to a low of 10.1 percent in FY 2009 before sitting at 10.9 percent across FY 2011-2013. As the economy has rebounded, so has the turnover rate, which rose to 11.1 in 2014, to 13.2 percent in FY 2015, and then to 14.1 percent in FY 2016.
An increase in the average age of new hires and lower turnover in the existing workforce contributed to an increase in the average age of workers, from 45.1 years old in 2006 to 47 in 2016.
The ratio of state and local government employees to Virginia residents was 53.2 per 1,000 residents in 2015, down slightly from 53.8 in 2014. Among U.S. states, that ranks Virginia 28th, with Nevada again having the lowest number at 37.4 employees. Virginia has a higher number of state and local government employees per resident than Tennessee (49.1) and Maryland (50.5), but lower than North Carolina (53.8). The U.S. average was 50.7 state and local government employees per 1,000 residents in 2015.
Information and
Infrastructure 
According to the Virginia
Information Technologies
Agency (VITA), 100 percent
of state agencies had a
designated Information
Security Officer (ISO)
and 83 percent had written
security audit plans in 2015.
Over 74 percent of IT projects are on track, according to VITA's February 2017 quarterly update -- a slight improvement from the previous quarter, but a significant decline over quarterly performance the previous year.
Major IT Projects with "On Track" Status, 2013-2017
Report Date | Percent On-Track | Dollar Value of Projects |
---|---|---|
February 2013 | 82.1% | $219,049,197 |
May 2013 | 75.0% | $290,595,508 |
August 2013 | 70.2% | $189,081,250 |
November 2013 | 76.9% | $170,239,701 |
February 2014 | 67.3% | $300,881,704 |
May 2014 | 71.4% | $154,798,749 |
August 2014 | 76.7% | $193,811,711 |
November 2014 | 71.4% | $265,343,475 |
February 2015 | 78.6% | $264,937,025 |
May 2015 | 63.9% | $228,729,168 |
August 2015 | 37.7% | $135,835,550 |
November 2015 | 63.9% | $228,584,187 |
February 2016 | 95.9% | $340,938,229 |
May 2016 | 92.8% | $341,521,747 |
August 2016 | 91.4% | $295,026,847 |
November 2016 | 73.8% | $254,032,492 |
February 2017 | 74.9% | $302,744,124 |
VITA Project Management and Oversight, Quarterly Status Reports |
PEW
cites state project management
systems in transportation
as a best practice. Data
from the Virginia Department
of Transportation shows
that the percentage of
transportation-related construction
and maintenance projects
completed on time and on budget has fluctuated in recent years. The percentage of projects completed on time in 2016 went up slightly, to 84 percent; the percentage completed on-budget rose from 93 percent in 2014 and 2015 to 97 percent in 2016.
What Influences Government Operations?
Government performance is affected by community characteristics, workforce quality, federal mandates, political forces, economies of scale, and citizen involvement. The per capita administrative costs of smaller states are much higher than larger states because of the relatively high amount of administrative overhead needed to operate state government. Regardless of size, strong strategic leadership and a skilled workforce lead to improved program performance, higher productivity, and quicker adoption of innovative practices.
A high level of socioeconomic disadvantages among residents can create greater demand for public services and increased administrative expenditures associated with program delivery. These conditions can also occur on a temporary basis, as during a major economic downturn. Finally, citizen engagement is an important factor affecting improved government performance.
What is the State's Role?
The Council on Virginia's Future and the Department of Planning and Budget oversee the state's performance leadership and accountability system. A number of central agencies -- including the Departments of Planning and Budget, Accounts, Treasury, Human Resource Management, and General Services; and the Virginia Information Technologies Agency -- work to ensure the best use of public resources and oversee the major administrative functions of state government.
Three enterprise-level organizations conduct ongoing audits of Virginia state government to ensure the integrity and stability of state government finances and operations. Audit results are available on their respective websites.
- The Auditor of Public Accounts, part of the legislative branch of state government, is responsible for providing unbiased, accurate information and sound recommendations to state leadership to improve accountability and financial management.
- The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) is the oversight agency of the General Assembly, responsible for evaluating the operations and performance of state agencies and programs.
- The State Comptroller establishes and monitors state agency compliance with a uniform system of accounting, financial reporting, and internal controls.
As part of its commitment to accountability and transparency, Virginia state government maintains a number of transparency sites and initiatives via the state portal, where citizens can learn how state government is doing on a host of issues:
- how much the state budgets and spends
- how much localities collect in general property taxes
- how state government measures and tracks its progress, particularly on key economic indicators








State rankings are ordered so that #1 is understood to be the best.
Data Definitions and Sources
Knack, Stephen. 2002. Social Capital and the Quality of Government: Evidence from the States. American Journal of Political Science 46, 4: 772-785.
Pew Center on the States. Grading the States.
Worthington, Andrew and Brian Dollery. 2000. An Empirical Survey of Frontier Efficiency Measurement Techniques in Local Government. Local Government Studies 26, 2: 23-52.
Finance
State and local expenditure data are from U.S. Census Bureau,
State Government Finances
www.census.gov/govs/state/
www.census.gov/govs/local
(debt and expenditures are expressed in 2014 dollars
using the Consumer Price Index)
Population data are from U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (vintage, 2013)
www.census.gov/popest/data/index.html
Virginia Retirement System Funded Status (percentage of assets available to pay present value of all liabilities):
- VRS Oversight Report, presented to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC), December 2016 (pdf).
- PEW Charitable Trust, “The State Pensions Funding Gap: Challenges Persist,” July 2015
Percentage of state government procurement dollars processed through eVA, eVa Dashboard
Workforce
State and local government Full-Time-Equivalent employees
per 1,000 residents
State and local government employment data are from U.S.
Census Bureau, Government Employment and Payroll
www.census.gov/govs/apes/
Population data are from U.S. Census Bureau, Population
Estimates (vintage, 2013)
www.census.gov/popest/data/index.html
State Employee Turnover Rate, Average Age
Virginia Department of Human Resource Management
(DHRM)
Workforce Planning Reports
www1.dhrm.virginia.gov/redir/getinfo.aspx?id=1044
Infrastructure and Information
Virginia Information Technologies Agency
2015 Information
Security Annual Report (pdf)
Percentage of IT Projects on Track
Virginia Information Technologies Agency
Quarterly Major IT Project Status Reports
www.vita.virginia.gov/oversight/projects/default.aspx?id=14016
Percentage of State Transportation Projects On-Time
and On-Budget
Virginia Department of Transportation
http://dashboard.virginiadot.org/
See the Data Sources and Updates Calendar for a detailed list of the data resources used for indicator measures on Virginia Performs.