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Subjects › Management › Performance Measurement
Updated 10/2010

    Performance Measurement

    Contents

    Overview

    This webpage is intended as a resource for Washington local government elected officials, managers and staff who are developing and implementing performance measurement systems.

    Why Measure Performance?

    The use of performance measures in local government is being driven by increased citizen demands for government accountability, greater interest on the part of local legislators in performance related information to assist in program evaluation and resource allocation decisions, and the efforts of various organizations and professional associations to make governments more results-oriented.

    Performance measurement allows policy makers, managers, and citizens to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of government services. Performance measures include inputs (resources used), outputs (program activities), efficiency measures (ratio of inputs to outputs), and outcomes (the actual results of programs and services). Many performance measurement systems are limited to measuring program inputs and outputs. Ideally, however, performance measurement efforts will also generate information about program results and outcomes.

    Supporting Organizations

    Performance measurement is supported and encouraged by a number of organizations and professional associations, including the International City/County Management Association, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, and the Government Finance Officers Association.

    The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) supports performance measurement research and development through their Center for Performance Measurement. The program provides on-site training in performance measurement concepts and data collection techniques and access to a database of comparative performance information from participating city and county governments. Several Washington cities and one county (Bellevue, Bothell, Burien Clyde Hill, Kent, Kirkland, Lakewood, Lynnwood, Medina, Mercer Island, Pasco, Redmond, Renton, Richland, Sammamish, Shoreline, Tacoma, University Place, Kitsap County, Vancouver, and Yakima) have joined in ICMA's performance measurement program.

    The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has been promoting performance measurement since the early 1980's. In 1990, GASB began publishing a series of research reports on "Service Efforts and Accomplishments Reporting" to assist governments with the development of performance measures. In 1994 the GASB issued Concepts Statement No. 2, stating that "service efforts and accomplishments information - including both financial and nonfinancial performance measures - is an essential aspect of the measurement of governmental performance and is necessary for assessing accountability and making informed decisions."

    Since 1997, GASB's research has been funded by grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The objective of this project is to encourage use and reporting of performance measures and, based on their use, to determine whether performance measures have developed to the point where the GASB will consider establishing service efforts and accomplishments (SEA) reporting standards or guidelines for inclusion in the general purpose external financial reports.

    The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recommends that program and service performance measures be developed and used as an important component of long term strategic planning and decision making which should be linked to governmental budgeting.

    Organizations

    Articles, Papers and Reports

    Washington Local Governments

    Bellevue

    Kent

    King County

    Kirkland

    Lynnwood

    Mercer Island

    Redmond

    Tacoma

    Vancouver

    Out-of-State

    Austin, Texas

    Charlotte County, Virginia

    Denver, Colorado

    Fairfax County, Virginia

    Maricopa County, Arizona

    North Carolina

    Phoenix, Arizona

    Portland, Oregon

    Performance Measures by Functional Area

    Administration

    Economic Development

    Information Technology

    Law Enforcement

    Parks

    Public Health

    Risk Management

    Streets, Roads, Traffic