HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 03/24/2009 - REVIEW OF THE 2008 COMMUNITY SCORECARD DATE: March 24, 2009 WORK SESSION ITEM
STAFF: Darin Atteberry FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL
Mike Freeman
Kelly DiMartino
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION
Review of the 2008 Community Scorecard.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Fort Collins has implemented a broad ranging performance measurement program in the
last three years. One element of the program that is now being developed is the Community
Scorecard. The Scorecard outlines and provides information on the City's organizational and
community performance for the prior fiscal year,in this case,2008. The Community Scorecard will
be developed each year and discussed and shared with City Council and the community to stimulate
discussion about the City's performance and priorities.
The Scorecard is a compilation of performance indicators that were indentified for each key outcome
in the City's Budgeting for Outcomes process. These indicators were identified as being important
in assessing performance related to the seven key outcomes which include:
1. Economic Health
2. Environmental Health
3. Neighborhood Quality
4. Community Safety
5. Cultural and Recreational Opportunities
6. Transportation
7. High Performing Government
The Scorecard will present data and insight into how well the City performed in implementing and
advancing the concepts and vision around the key outcomes.
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
1. What is Council's reaction to the first Community Scorecard?
2. What suggestions does the City Council have for staff preparations begin for the 2009
Community Scorecard?
BACKGROUND
The Community Scorecard is organized around the seven key outcomes results areas that frame the
City's Budgeting for Outcomes(BFO)process. The key outcomes provide a focus for City Council
and organizational initiatives and provide the foundation for reporting progress. Each of the seven
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key outcomes have performance measures or indicators attached to them in order to measure the
City's progress in meeting the established goals. For example, one of the indicators in Economic
Health is the extent to which the number of jobs and salaries are growing within the City's targeted
industry groups. This information is an indicator that helps explain if the City's efforts to support
the target industry groups in Clean Energy, Biotechnology, Software, Chip.Design, and Arts and
Culture are having a positive impact.
Performance measurement is an important part of the overall BFO process. The information
contained in the Scorecard provides an avenue for staff,City Council,and the community to ask the
essential question,"Are we meeting expectations?" By understanding what is working,what is not,
and options or alternatives that should be considered in the budget,we can continuously improve our
services and produce high quality results for the community.
The City's overall performance measurement program is made up of several components which are
outlined below:
Performance Measurement Components Frequency
Q14 Employee Survey 3 times/year
Operation specific performance measures Annually
International City/County Management Annually
Association's Center for Performance
Measurement (ICMA CPM)
Citizen Survey 2008 and 2010
Internal Services Focus Groups 2008 and 2010
Community Scorecard Annually
These building block components of the performance measurement program are varied. Following
is brief description of each of the component parts.
Q14 Employee Survey
Three times a year,the City administers an employee survey that gauges employee engagement and
satisfaction. This information is used by managers to gain insight into the organization, look for
trends in the overall organization and within work groups, and provides the basis for launching
initiatives to improve employee engagement.
Department Specific Performance Measures
Each department in the City maintains performance measures that help the employees and managers
track and monitor performance. Much of this information is very detailed and operationally based.
This information is generally used within the department or operation for continual monitoring and
measuring operations, although a limited amount is included in the Scorecard.
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International City/County Management Association's Center for Performance Measurement
(ICMA-CPM)
The ICMA-CPM program is designed to collect performance measurement information from
communities across the country who participate with the intention of being able to compare
organizational performance across organizations. The City participates in the ICMA program and
performance measurement data is collected annually by departments and entered into a centralized
database. Later in the year, this information is published and shared with member organizations.
The 2008 performance measures data will be available in the Fall of 2009.
Internal Services Focus Groups
In an effort to regularly get feedback from employees regarding their satisfaction and perceptions of
internal services (i.e., Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, etc.), the City is
conducting a series of focus groups with employees. This information will be useful in aligning
internal services with customer expectations and provide an ongoing tool for tracking customer
service.
Citizen Survey
The City has conducted numerous community surveys over the years. The Citizen Survey is
conducted every two years and provides a wealth of information about citizen perceptions and
satisfaction with City services. Information from the Citizen Survey is used by the City Council and
staff in understanding community priorities and expectations regarding city services and programs.
Community Scorecard
The Scorecard includes the performance indicators that were identified for each key outcome in the
City's Budgeting for Outcomes process. These indicators are designed to assess organizational and
community performance related to the seven key outcomes. The Scorecard also includes some
broader information and performance measures that help explain the challenges and successes in
meeting the desire goals and outcomes
The Community Scorecard will be developed annually and made available to the public in a variety
of ways. The first copy of the Scorecard will be presented at the City Council work session on
March 24, 2009.