(RALEIGH) -- State Auditor Beth Wood is offering a rather harsh solution for agencies that do not justify if taxpayer money is being used wisely: set targets or lose state funding. Wood said some managers were not even setting clear objectives for their employees.

"It could be something just as simple as that if you don't put this information out there and do a good job, you just automatically get a 20 percent budget cut.  You think that would get people's attention," asked Wood.

Wood was speaking to the Program Evaluation Oversight Committee and was merely trying to make a point that something needed to be done to insure better performance accountability. She said several recent audits show some agencies were not meeting their own performance-based goals.

Wood’s office recently audited four different agencies – Department of Agriculture, Department of Public Instruction and two divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services. Only DPI set and reached performance benchmarks, according to Wood. But she noted that the DPI has to regularly submit performance reports in order to receive federal funding.

Wood acknowledged that many agency leaders may lack the skills needed to put together detailed reports outlining their department’s core function along with ways management will track performance. "Everybody's budget should be based on what are you trying to accomplish, what are you trying to carry out and then, did you achieve it," added Wood. State budget writers need that information to make well-informed decisions about spending taxpayer money, according to Wood.