Agenda - Council Work Session - 09/11/2012

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Important Service - Specific Considerations Some of the factors that influence the comparability of permits data are: • Permit categories — Whether a jurisdiction engages in permitting for various activities can affect the overall volume of permits tracked as well as the time needed for each permit. • Permit staff —The availability of dedicated permit staff can influence a jurisdiction's ability to address permits quickly, which in turn can influence approval time frames. Broadly speaking, the physical, political, and demographic characteristics of each reporting jurisdiction also influence performance. • Examples include unusually good or bad weather, new state or federal mandates, significant changes in state or federal aid, major budget cuts, and median household income. Citizen preferences, council or board priorities, local tax resources, and state - imposed spending limits cause additional variation in the funds, equipment, and staff available for providing permits services. A list of additional considerations applying to all service areas is included in the introduction to this report. Please review it before reporting, analyzing, or otherwise using the information in this report. Suggested Applications CPM 101 Annual Report: FY 2011 Permit Services / 104 • Examine your performance compared to peers and means and medians. —If you're performing above the norms, check in with ICMA if you'd be willing to share what you're doing to achieve high performance. Your practices may be suitable for write -up that can be shared with others. If you find that you'd like to improve performance in any areas, check the analysis and effective practice case studies posted on the CPM 101 group on the ICMA Knowledge Network. The studies are full of examples of how local governments have used performance measurement to find improvement targets and boost performance —and to promote ongoing high performance. You can also check out the What Works Case Studies posted on the performance measurement topic page. • Prepare a report for your supervisor, manager, elected officials, or others. Using the data you have evaluated and the goals you are hoping to achieve, write a report to be shared with the manager, elected officials, the public or others. It is important that results and goals are communicated clearly to those in the jurisdiction. Check out CPM's public website (icma.org /performance) and click on the Certificate Program link to view samples of reports prepared by participants in the CPM Comprehensive program. • Hold internal meetings to celebrate successes & discuss improvements. — Hold internal meetings /discussions with your department to review results shown in this report. Identify where your department excels and where improvement may be needed. In areas where you are a high performer, discuss how to maintain high performance, as well as ways to share the good news. In areas where improvement is desired, solicit ideas from department employees about how to set and reach new targets. Consider consulting peer communities for advice, too. OCMA Center for Performance Measurement'"