City of Austin
Performance Measures
Definitions
| Activity | An activity is defined as a set of services grouped together by common purpose. An activity has a common purpose that produces outputs and results. This includes services to the public and to customers internal to the Department. |
| Activity Measures | The measures associated with a departmental activity. |
| Actual | The end-of-year total result of measure's performance. |
| Approved Amount | The budgeted expenditures as approved in the current fiscal year. |
| Approved FTE | The number of full-time equivalent employees approved in the current fiscal year. |
| Current Data | Periodic reporting of a measure for the current fiscal year. A measure can have a monthly, quarterly or annual reporting frequency. |
| Current Year | The current fiscal year beginning on October 1. |
| Dashboard Indicators or Measures | 21 of the most critical indicators for the City's success. Taken collectively, these indicators provide a tool for quickly assessing how well the City of Austin is performing in the areas of Public Safety, Community Services, Infrastructure Services, Utilities/Major Business Enterprises, and Economic and Financial Health. |
| Department | A city agency or office that performs a major service to a customer. Examples of departments include: Police, Fire, Animal Services, Aviation, and Human Resources. |
| Department Goals | The measureable objectives that a department expects to achieve within an annual or short-term timeframe. These goals are written so that they focus on what customers will get. |
| Department Measures | Measures that have been assigned to the department (as opposed to the activity or program) level. Typically, these are high-level measures that involve many workgroups within the department in order to be successful. |
| Department Mission | The stated purpose of a department. |
| Fiscal Year | The city's business year, usually a 12-month accounting period that does not necessarily correspond to the calendar year. The City of Austin's fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30. |
| Key Indicators | Performance measures that best describe the primary functions of a department. |
| Measure Type | The City's performance measurement system uses a family of measures that includes demand, output, results, and efficiency measures. Individually these measures provide important information for making management decisions. Together they provide the performance information essential to manage for results and making good business decisions. Policy and budget decisions focus primarily on results, while the full family of measures enables managers to make good management decisions. Following are definitions of performance measures:
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| Objective | The stated purpose of a departmental program or activity. |
| Operational Measures | Performance measures that are not published in the annual budget document. Typically, operational measures focus on the day-to-day performance of workgroups, while performance measures have appeal to a broader number of interest groups. |
| Performance Measures | The general term for all measures associated with assessing the performance and success of a department. Specifically, Performance Measures are published in the annual budget document. |
| Program | A program is a set of activities with a common purpose that produces results for citizens. |
| Program Measures | The measures assigned to a departmental program. Typically, these measures would require the efforts of all of the activity workgroups in order to be achieved. |
| Quarter | There are four quarters in the City's fiscal year. October through December is the 1st quarter; January through March is the 2nd quarter; April through June is the 3rd quarter and July through September is the 4th quarter. |
| Result | A result is the impact on the customer. |
| Services | Deliverables made available to the customer. They represent an end product and not a step in the process. |
| Target | The established goal of a measure. |