City Defines Performance Measurements

The City of Burnsville is hoping to get state financial recognition for tasks that it is already doing on a regular basis.

Residents are surveyed every four years to provide city staff and the city council input on how city services stack up, and whether taxpayers think they are getting their money’s worth.

The state of Minnesota would like to recognize these efforts, if the city would take the process one step further by quantifying these survey results into 10 performance measurements and providing the information to the state. This information will be used to help establish a state standard to determine if taxpayers are getting what they pay for.

As part of the program, the city may be eligible for an $8,500 reimbursement in local government aid and an exemption from levy limits, if one is imposed by the state.

The Burnsville City Council adopted a resolution during their Tuesday meeting acknowledging program participation and laying out the performance indicators to be surveyed, with publication of the results by Dec. 31, 2012.

The service areas to be surveyed are: police, fire, streets, water, sanitary sewer, parks and recreation, quality of service, the city’s overall appearance and taxable property market value.

In 2010, the Minnesota Legislature created the Council on Local Results and Innovation. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Paul Marquart (DFL-Dilworth), said the legislation’s impetus lay with the $3.4 billion in aids and credits that the state annually sends to local governments. “We’ve never been able to measure the results of that money. This will provide more accountability for what type of services the state is receiving for the money it is sending.”

In its February report to the Legislature, the Council noted that the information collected from cities and counties from the surveys will be used to “develop recommended minimum standards for comprehensive measurement systems by Feb. 15, 2012.”

During an interview, Marquart commended Burnsville’s participation in the program. “It is really saying to the residents, ‘we care about the services we provide, and what you have to say.’”

Although Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed the state’s 2011-2012 spending bills, and he is locked in a budget battle with the legislators that could lead to a government shutdown July 1, Marquart thinks cities will see the financial participation “spiff” from the state. “This (systems of measurement) is the direction we want to move – to more accountability. I believe this (appropriation) will stay intact.”

Burnsville City Chief Financial Officer Tammy Omdal said there is no downside to the city’s participation. “This is just confirmation of what we have already been doing,” she said.

Editor's note: This article has been altered to correct two pieces of information — specifically, the correct spelling of Ms. Omdal's name and the correct interval of time between community surveys.