ICMA Center for Performance Measurement

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The ICMA Center for Performance Measurement is dedicated to helping local governments measure, compare, and improve municipal service delivery. ICMA's Comparative Performance Measurement Program currently assists over 220 cities and counties in the United States and Canada with the collections, analysis, and application of performance information.

The Center builds on work begun in 1994 by the Comparative Performance Measurement Consortium, a initial group of 44 cities and counties whose managers identified a need for accurate, fair, and comparable data about the quality and efficiency of service delivery to their citizens. Consortium members asked ICMA to coordinate their work and then undertook the challenges of narrowing the choices of services to be measured, identified desired outcomes of service delivery, defining indicators, and collecting data.

Today, the Center continues its work to administer and refine the Comparative Performance Measurement Program. This includes:

• Providing on-site training for new participants
• Coordinating meetings for both managers and departmental specialists
• Refining data collection templates based on suggestions from program participants
• Collecting and "cleaning" program data to ensure the validity of interagency comparisons
• Compiling information regarding best practices among program participants
• Publishing an annual program report, and
• Providing participants with raw data for customizing their own comparisons, graphs, and reports.

The Comparative Performance Measurement Program has since expanded to over 220 communities, with data collection continuing to provide the ability for interagency benchmarking as well as internal performance improvement comparisons. With the continued growth of the program, participants have the freedom to compare to the full sample or to use the online database to customize their own comparisons based on population, climate, urban density, method of service provision, community demographics, and other characteristics.

Service areas evaluated under the program include:

• Code Enforcement
• Facilities Management
• Fire and EMS
• Fleet Management
• Highway and Road Maintenance
• Housing
• Human Resources
• Information Technology
• Library Services
• Parks and Recreation
• Police Services
• Purchasing
• Refuse and Recycling
• Risk Management
• Youth Services

For more information, visit the FAQs, or contact CPM at cpmmail@icma.org or 202/962-3562.

CPM NEWS FLASH...

The Ethical Foundation of Performance Measurement and Management

This article written by Michael F. Brown, County Executive Officer, Santa Barbara County, Calif. and Jason Stillwell, Project Manager, Santa Barbara County, Calif. highlights the intimate relationship among professional local government management, ethics, and performance measurement. Describes performance measurement as a practical tool to meet core ethical values—trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Explores responsibilities resulting from these relationships. Read More...

Downloads

CPM Brochure 8-06 (Adobe Acrobat Document, 632 KB)

CPM Enrollment Form (Adobe Acrobat Document, 51 KB)

Performance Measurement in Practice (Adobe Acrobat Document, 1,373 KB)

Georgia Managers Presentation Nov11 2006 (Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation, 6,176 KB)

Santa Barbara County: Linking Performance Measures with Strategic Plans and Budgets 1 (Adobe Acrobat Document, 218 KB)

Prince William County: Working with Department Heads, Staff, and Elected Officials (Adobe Acrobat Document, 576 KB)

Performance Measurement Resources for Local Government (Adobe Acrobat Document, 198 KB)

Performance Measurement: When Results Matter (Adobe Acrobat Document, 433 KB)