Laserfiche WebLink
Financial Management for Elected Officials January 2013 <br /> <br />Institute for Local Government www.ca-ilg.org 11 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />o Note: If the agency uses employment contracts, carefully consider the potential future <br />fiscal impacts of automatic contract renewals, automatic increases in compensation, and <br />provisions linking compensation increases to third-party contracts. These may hamper <br />the agency’s abilities to control its costs in the future. <br /> <br />• Are position vacancies monitored (including length of each vacancy), to determine if salary <br />savings can be achieved, if position actually required, or if service levels are suffering? <br /> <br />• What is the status of the agency’s funding for pension and other post employment benefits <br />liabilities? <br /> <br />Public Information and Transparency <br /> <br />• What processes will the agency use to inform the public about budget issues? What <br />mechanisms will there opportunities will be provided for public input on budget challenges <br />and priorities? <br /> <br />Are the agency’s budget and supporting documents made available on the agency’s website?19 <br /> <br />Note about Performance Measurement <br />“Performance measurement” (which is sometimes known by other names) enables an organization to <br />assess its performance against organizational goals. This can occur as part of the budgeting process or <br />as part of general management practices involving assessing the degree to which an organization’s <br />activities and priorities are aligned with pursuit of an organization’s mission and strategy. Under either <br />approach, the Government Finance Officers’ Association recommends that performance measurement <br />be linked to budget decision-making. See www.gfoa.org/downloads/budgetperfmanagement.pdf <br />More specifically, performance measurement is a management tool for systematically collecting clearly <br />defined data regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery. The initial questions for <br />elected officials to ask are: <br />1) Whether and how the agency uses performance measurement to assess its activities, <br />2) If the organization uses performance measurement, how is the resulting data analyzed and used <br />in management decision-making (including decisions on allocating resources), and <br />3) How are those results communicated to elected officials and the community? <br />There are a number of good sources on performance measurement for public agencies, including the <br />International County-City Management Association (ICMA— <br />icma.org/en/results/center_for_performance_measurement/home and the Government Finance Officers <br />Association (GFOA – <br />www.gfoa.org/index.php?Itemid=250&id=479&option=com_content&task=view). <br />Page 61 of 109