Auditor Roles in Government Performance Measurement: A Guide to Exemplary Practices
at the Local, State, and Provincial Levels
© 2004 The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation
_____________________________________________________________
About the Authors v
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Paul D. Epstein is principal of Epstein and Fass Associates, a New York City-based consulting
firm. He has over 25 years’ experience in public performance measurement, quality and productivity
improvement, customer service improvement, and sharing innovative practices. Mr. Epstein has
helped entire local governments develop performance measures and improvement projects, and he
has assisted local, state, federal, United Nations, and nonprofit agencies that provide a wide range
of services. His many improvement methodologies include the balanced scorecard to link
performance measures with strategy. He has also created audit competency models and systems
to assess auditor competencies, and designed and delivered training courses to auditors involving
performance measurement. In March 2003 he received the Harry Hatry Distinguished Performance
Measurement Practice Award from the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) for
his lifetime achievements. The work of an ASPA committee he chaired was cited by Congress in
its report on the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act. That year he was tapped by
Vice President Gore’s National Performance Review to help improve performance management
of the federal government. Since the late 1990s, Mr. Epstein has been on the performance
measurement research team of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). He was
a principal researcher and co-author of the GASB’s Special Report: Reporting Performance
Information: Suggested Criteria for Effective Communication (2003); Research Report on
the GASB Citizen Discussion Groups on Performance Reporting (2002); and five case studies
of state and local government uses of performance measurement. Mr. Epstein’s many other
publications include the book Using Performance Measurement in Local Government (1984
and 1988). He has led research teams on citizen engagement and performance measurement,
culminating in the forthcoming book Results That Matter, of which Mr. Epstein is lead author. Mr.
Epstein has an engineering degree from MIT, and has taught graduate public management courses
at NYU, the University of Hartford, and Baruch College.
Stuart S. Grifel, CIA, CGAP, is a corporate internal auditor for the City of Austin, Texas, where
one of his key responsibilities is certifying the reliability of departments’ performance measures.
Mr. Grifel has over 20 years’ experience in government performance measurement, operations
review, performance auditing, and productivity improvement. He was previously an audit supervisor
in the Austin Office of the City Auditor, where he represented the City Auditor’s Office on a
Corporate Business Planning Team with city management representatives, and he provided training
to department managers in how to interpret performance reports and use performance data for
strategic planning, budgeting, and management decision making. He also conducted performance
audits and assessed program performance measures and systems for tracking, reporting, and using
measurement data in planning and decision making. Mr. Grifel has assisted many jurisdictions in
The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation
Auditor Roles in Government Performance Measurement: A Guide to Exemplary Practices
at the Local, State, and Provincial Levels
© 2004 The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation
vi Auditor Roles in Government Performance Measurement _____________________________
performance measurement and improvement while at KPMG Peat Marwick, the National Center
for Public Productivity at Rutgers University, the Innovations Group, the City of Tampa, Florida,
and Polk County, Florida. Mr. Grifel has also trained numerous public managers in performance
measurement and productivity improvement. He has been a member of Sloan Foundation-funded
research teams on citizens and performance measurement and on auditors and performance
measurement. His publications include his article “Performance Measurement and Budgetary
Decision Making,” in Public Productivity and Management Review (1994) and his co-authored
articles “Evolving Roles for Auditors in Government Performance Measurement,” in Local
Government Auditing Quarterly (2000) and The Journal of Public Financial Management
(2002), and “21st Century Community Focus: Better Results by Linking Citizens, Government and
Performance Measurement,” in Public Management (1999). He has served as President of The
IIA Austin Chapter, and is currently a member of The IIA International Membership Committee.
Mr. Grifel has an MBA from Suffolk University in Boston, and an MPA from Baruch College, City
University of New York.
Stephen L. Morgan, CIA, CGFM, CGAP, CFE, is the city auditor of Austin, Texas, directing
a full scope audit office that conducts performance audits, fraud investigations, and consulting
engagements. Under Mr. Morgan’s leadership as deputy city auditor, the City Auditor’s Office
conducted three citywide audits of performance measures, measurement systems, and the use of
performance measures by department management. The first such audit followed a unanimous
City Council resolution, drafted by Mr. Morgan, on performance measurement expectations of all
departments. The later audits led to the city making a major commitment to improve performance
measurement and integrate it with strategic planning and budgeting. Before joining the City Auditor’s
Office, Mr. Morgan was an evaluator in the U.S. General Accounting Office’s National Productivity
Group, responsible for managing audits of federal productivity programs. For many years he has
also been an instructor, designing and delivering courses on performance measurement, management,
and auditing. His IIA offices have included president and governor, Austin Chapter, chair of the
International Government Relations Committee, and currently North American director. He is a
member of the executive committee of the Southwest Intergovernmental Audit Forum. In January
2001 Mr. Morgan was appointed by the Comptroller General of the United States to the Advisory
Council on Government Auditing Standards. He recently co-authored the textbook Performance
Auditing: A Measurement Approach. Also, in March 2002, Mr. Morgan became the fourth
annual recipient of the Harry Hatry Distinguished Performance Measurement Practice Award
from the American Society of Public Administration honoring his lifetime of contributions to public
service. Mr. Morgan holds a bachelor of arts degree in government (with honors) from the University
of Texas at Austin; he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds an MPA from the Lyndon B.
Johnson School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas.
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