Summary

Performance management tracking systems developed in King County government could help governments nationwide improve how they track the condition of a community and measure the success of services being provided to their residents.

Story

Performance management tracking systems developed in King County government could help governments nationwide improve how they track the condition of a community and measure the success of services being provided to their residents.

King County has been selected to take part in a new study on the use of community-level indicators by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO has been asked to assess how public agencies, private organizations, and other countries have developed comprehensive indicator systems and how their experiences could help inform the development and use of an indicator system for the United States.

“Through our strategic plan process, residents told us what their priorities are and we are working to make sure our services match up,” said County Executive Dow Constantine. “It is gratifying that King County’s performance management work is getting national recognition as a possible model for the rest of the country.”

King County has a public performance management Web site called AIMs High: Annual Indicators and Measures (www.kingcounty.gov/aimshigh) where residents can see how the county’s doing in a number of areas. King County has been recognized previously by the Association of Government Accountants for its outstanding efforts at reporting performance results to the public using the site. The Web site presents both community level indicators, like crime rate, along with King County agency performance measures, like response time.

The GAO has selected several local, state, and national indicator systems to be part of its study.

The GAO team will be in Seattle during July to conduct interviews with King County leaders and staff to better understand the connections between indicators, performance measures, strategic planning, and budgeting.

The GAO report summarizing their findings will be available next year.