Title
Receive a presentation from the Resource Management Agency on how performance measures are being used as a management tool.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors receive a presentation from the Resource Management Agency on how performance measures are being used as a management tool.
SUMMARY:
The Resource Management Agency (RMA) is responsible for a wide range of important County functions, including public infrastructure, land use policy and regulations, building regulations, development review, capital projects and County facilities. The RMA has been working over the past several years to evolve into a performance-based organization. The RMA has approached this organizational redefinition from both "top down" and "bottom up" involving virtually every level of RMA staff.
Staff has developed performance measures to assess our primary programs and services as follows:
- Key Measures: RMA has developed six key measures reflective of our primary programs and services (Attachment 1). These measures are intended to help guide budgeting and organizational recommendations that implement the Board of Supervisors' Strategic Initiatives and Key Objectives.
- External Measures: RMA has developed 114 measures to "tell our story" to the public and Board of Supervisors about how we are doing in term of efficiency and effectiveness. These measures are reported in the mid-year and annual reports, and are included as part of a quarterly meeting that involves all of the functional units presenting their data to RMA management.
- Internal Measures: RMA has developed an additional 91 measures to provide details that help identify and track where issues may occur so that they can be addressed. These measures are also included in the quarterly RMA meeting.
DISCUSSION:
The Resource Management Agency (RMA) has five primary groups (Administration, Building Services, Environmental Services, Planning, and Public Works) responsible for over 23 distinct functional units. Development of meaningful performance measures is critical in our efforts to evolve into a performance-based organization. As such, staff continues to refine measures in response to comments from the public and Board of Supervisors. Improving measures and data collection has also resulted in refinements to align with organizational development.
The RMA has made considerable progress this past year related to using the performance measures as part of managing the organization. As a result of these efforts, the RMA currently uses the performance measures program to achieve the following:
· Aligning operational activities and priorities with the Department's Strategic Initiatives
· Creating a cross functional approach to operations
· Creating a responsive and solution-oriented culture
· Developing feasible staff productivity standards and instilling accountability
· Utilizing metrics to evaluate budget priorities and funding options
Data related to these measures compiled for 1st and 2nd Quarters of Fiscal Year 2013/14 (July 2013 to December 2013) illustrate trends in development and permit activity and our performance relative to meeting these demands as summarized below:
- Building revenues are up overall; however, revenues for planning as well as commercial/ industrial permits are flat. This indicates there have been increases in larger residential projects versus minor additions. This trend is likely attributed to the East Garrison project, which is expected to sustain this pace for a few years. Increased number of building permits correlates into an increase in demand for inspections and plan check. The Performance Measure data indicate that inspection demands can be met with existing staff levels, but it will be necessary to increase plan check staffing in order to reduce the number of projects sent to outside plan review consultants. This will be necessary to meet our goals and achieve efficiency measures and customer service commitments.
- Planning permit processing timelines have decreased slightly (median number of days). On its face, this is good news however we anticipate that increases of the number of permits will add to the existing large workload of the staff, which will likely affect timelines in the upcoming year. The RMA has recently made some organizational changes that we anticipate will help address permit activity increases. The reporting data should reflect benefits from these changes over the next couple of reporting periods. The data also indicates that Planning has improved in responding to Board referrals. While measures show that Long Range Planning is making progress on a number of items, the anticipated timelines have been extended to include more public outreach. Many Long Range Planning tasks require several layers of final decisions, which are largely affected by factors outside of staff's control.
- Public Works is generally on pace with last year relative to the number of permits (encroachment, transportation, etc). Measures show that we are meeting targets for issuing transportation permits and addressing requests. However, we need to explore how we can improve processing times for encroachment permits and Records of Surveys. We believe that the data reflects an increase in the number of construction projects. Road and Bridge data are representative of limited funds available, which highlights our need to focus efforts to obtain revenue that can be used for maintenance. Limited funding reduces staff's ability to keep up with preventative maintenance needs. As requests for service increase (corrective maintenance), the ability of staff to be responsive and meet targets will decrease. The CIP is not meeting targets for schedule and/or budget, which can be attributed to staff workload as we have experienced some recent turnover of staff. At mid-year, data reflects that Facilities reduced (improved) timelines for closing service requests, even though we are on pace to double the number of requests from last year. Fleet has realized cost savings by using GREEN vehicles; however, our measures show that efforts to acquire GREEN vehicles have slowed. This is in part due to efforts directed at "right-sizing" our fleet before purchasing additional vehicles. Significant improvements have been realized in Fleet, in part, by reducing the equipment/mechanic ratio.
- The RMA created a new Environmental Services Division in 2013 to address grading, erosion control and storm water as required by new State regulations and to address deficiencies outlined in a Notice of Violation issued in 2012. Workload and the types of services for this group are expected to increase as a result of new storm water management regulations, including more stringent water quality standards, additional construction site inspection requirements that apply to a wider range of projects, and an expanded "Urban Areas' which are subject to the new requirements. Each significant new Storm Water Management Program requirement will be highlighted and implementation progress tracked. This team will track ministerial permits, discretionary permits, environmental documents, and storm water pollution prevention plans processed, and performance will be measured based on process time that affects permit costs. Construction site inspections required will be tracked and measured against the number of site inspections completed.
In general, the measures indicate that there are areas where the RMA can improve on efficiency and effectiveness. The RMA made some organizational changes, including establishing a new Permit Coordinator position to help applicants address issues with the process. Efforts are underway to consolidate customer services across the entire RMA (records, phones, front counter, etc). By outlining the existing process, evaluating what works and what does not work, and considering needs and expectations from the public we will identify some changes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our front counter.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The RMA has coordinated with the Managing for Results Countywide Performance Measurement Program.
FINANCING:
Receiving this report and presentation has no budget impact.
Prepared by: Carl P. Holm, AICP, Deputy Director RMA
Approved by: Benny J. Young, Resource Management Agency Director
Attachments:
Attachment 1: RMA Key Measures