Since taking office in January 1992, Goldsmith has shifted over 50 government services into the marketplace by making city departments compete with private firms to deliver public services.
Few governments know how much it costs to deliver most public services.
Without such data, it is impossible to know if city costs are competitive with those in the marketplace or how scarce tax dollars could be best allocated to serve citizens. By attaching explicit costs to individual activities, and measuring the costs versus the efficiency and effectiveness of service outputs, ABC systems can provide an important tool for controlling costs and increasing productivity in the public sector. ABC brings to light costs which previously were hidden allowing managers to determine where they need to get costs down. ABC systems also lead to more accurate cost comparisons between in-house and contracted services when governments bid out services. Entrepreneurial, Performance-Based Budgeting.