Linking Performance Measurement to Budgeting.

• Author: Sharp, Terry

This article provides performance measurement examples from the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, including the application of performance data in key decision making processes.

Measurement is intrinsic to daily modern life. Watches and clocks keep track of rime. Scoreboards tally the progress of sporting events. Students are evaluated on the basis of test scores. In the workplace, the science of measuring work has been around as long as its pioneer, Frederick Taylor. More recently, there has been an emphasis upon measuring performance. In the public sector, several public interest groups have contributed to the creation and use of performance measurement. The International City/County Management Association, the Urban Institute, and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board have all endorsed the use of performance measures as an integral part of public administration and financial accountability.

GFOA has been at the forefront of advocating the use of performance measurement. With the publication of its recommended budgeting practices, GFOA forever linked performance measurement to the budget process. The purpose of this article is to review the linkage between performance measures and resource allocation in the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Background

The City of Fort Lauderdale has a current operating budget of $337 million. The city has a year-round residential population of 150,000 people, with an additional six million tourists visiting each year. Fort Lauderdale serves as the county seat for a population of 1.5 million. It is a full-service city with police services that include the only municipal jail in Florida, fire-rescue, two water treatment plants, a regional wastewater treatment facility, a spring-training baseball stadium, an auditorium, a public beach, a swimming complex, and a general aviation airport. The elected officials rely on the advice from 28 advisory boards, including a budget advisory board. In addition, there are 76 neighborhood associations who participate in public dialogue through a council of civic associations.

Creating Performance Measures

GFOA has defined performance measures as data used to assess how efficiently and effectively functions, programs, and activities are provided and determine whether goals are met. Exhibit 1 illustrates the steps in creating a performance measurement system.

Environmental Scan. Performance measures should not be collected and evaluated in isolation. They should be part of an overall system of continuous improvement. Beginning at the top of the diagram in Exhibit 1, the start of a successful performance measurement process is an environmental scan. An organization needs to evaluate the needs in the community. Needs can be expressed in terms of demographic data and requests for service. Such information reflects the composition of the entity's constituency and the type and magnitude of demands being placed on the service provider.

Although Fort Lauderdale has a permanent residential population of 150,000, its annual tourist population approaches six million. The city is also the county seat for a population of 1.5 million, many who work and/or play within Fort Lauderdale. Examples in the city's budget document illustrating diverse service demands are estimated swimmers at the beach, number of properties in the city, number of citizen inquiries, and number of recruited vacant positions. Additionally, demands of other city departments must be considered as the budget is presented for internal services such as invoices processed by accounts payable. Also, observe that the number of properties in the city impacts the services...