Performance Measurement

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to advancing local government worldwide. They provide services to their members and to the local government community, and is a leader in developing ethical and transparent government organizations.

When providing services to the people, it is important for local governments to be able to track the efficiency of their services. One way to do this is to measure customer satisfaction. How satisfied do the customers have to be before a government entity considers their service to be efficient? What level of service is expected? And based off these measurements, is there room for improvement?

There are many ways governments have gone about measuring their performance. One technique that I studied in grad school was CitiStat, a system started in Baltimore that inspired many local governments to create a similar systems to track their services based on performance measurement. This is a complex system that requires heavy IT involvement, and is usually used in larger cities.

ICMA offers another way to measure performance for local governments. They have a Center for Performance Measurement that helps local governments measure and compare services for the purpose of making improvements. They look into several specific service areas, such as:

• Code Enforcement
• Facilities Management
• Fire and EMS
• Fleet Management
• Highway and Road Maintenance
• Housing
• Human Resources
• Information Technology
• Obesity Prevention
• Library Services
• Parks and Recreation
• Permits, Land Use and Plan Review
• Police Services
• Purchasing
• Refuse and Recycling
• Sustainability 
• Risk Management
• Youth Services

The Town of Marana is considering the benefits of doing a performance measurement through one of ICMA's programs, as it will be an excellent way to compare with neighboring communities, evaluate current performances, and establish goals for future improvement.

I have had a chance to begin investigating this program, and it sounds very interesting. A decision to proceed with it depends on the outcome of the council retreat next month, since it is important to evaluate the values of the community and decide what tools best fit the needs.