Average bonus for federal executives topped $11,000 last year, totaled $32 million

by David Pace
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of federal executives collected bonuses averaging more than $11,000 last year, a $32 million payout that has both Congress and the Bush administration looking for new ways to link bonuses to performance.

At the Federal Aviation Administration, for example, 161 civil service executives collected more than $1 million in bonuses, though the agency failed to meet half its performance goals for the previous budget year.

At the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, two executives won presidential rank awards worth $10,000 each, though the agency missed by 14 percentage points a presidential target to increase seat belt use to 85 percent.

Across the government, top officials collected nearly 25 percent more in bonuses for their performances during the last budget year of the Clinton administration than for the previous year. Bonuses for the 2001 budget year still are being computed.

The increase in incentive pay has caught the eye of Congress and the Bush administration. The House transportation appropriations subcommittee voted to cut the amount of money available for bonuses next year at both the FAA and NHTSA, saying there's been little relationship between agency performance and the payment of incentives to executives.

"Bonuses for government executives should be tied directly to their success at meeting clear and measurable goals," said Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the transportation panel. "Taxpayers expect results."

Kay James, director of the Office of Personnel Management, wrote agency heads in November questioning appraisals that gave 85 percent of all career government executives top performance ratings.

"These statistics suggest that agencies are not making meaningful distinctions between those who merely do what's expected and those with a consistent track record of outstanding performance," she said.

James said in an interview the administration intends to start linking bonuses to the reaching of performance measures each agency is required to develop under the 1993 Government Results P