Communicating Progress on Goals: Organize goals/outcome measures from all city plans (social, environmental, economic) and report to community members data that show progress toward meeting these goals.
Best Practice of this action
Rating Guideline
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Report goals/outcomes annually from plans such as comprehensive, parks, library, housing, stormwater, drinking water, transportation, economic development, energy, sustainability; Issue a city Performance Management Report. |
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Achieve 1 Star rating AND identify specific steps from city departments on how to improve performance or meet goals that were not met in the previous year and incorporate them into the city's updated annual sustainability work plan. |
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Integrate goals/outcomes reporting explicitly into the city capital improvement planning process, identifying how public dollars are targeted to meeting sustainability goals in the plans. |
Resources
- A simple template can be used to provide community members with a snapshot of city goals and progress toward them.
- Learn more about Priority Based Budgeting as used by Duluth, MN.
- The National Civic Review devoted an entire issue to the importance of Engaging the Public in Local Government Performance Measurement and Reporting (2008).
- The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) shares guidelines of Service Efforts and Accomplishments (SEA) reporting. This methodology has a goal of reporting how well government assesses priorities and then delivers appropriate services.
- The American Planning Association provides a guide for local government that defines sustainability, as well as how to implement, measure, and report it called Assessing Sustainability: A Guide for Local Governments (2011).
- Read Understanding Your City’s Energy Resources (2018) about the type of energy information that most communities use in planning for energy development and/or to meet local energy or climate goals, and how the GreenStep partner organization Great Plains Institute can help cities use the data.
- The City of Golden Valley’s Environmental Commission worked with the city’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Commission to ensure their city’s sustainability and climate resilience actions will address the greater environmental impacts being experienced in lower income parts of the city.
Order Number
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