County suspends performance program

Calling it too cumbersome right now, county commissioners agreed to suspend efforts to craft a performance measurement program designed to monitor the efficiency of county departments.

The board acted on a recommendation from County Administrator David Hamilton, who said the program has become labor intensive due to so many layoffs and that it may be revised next year.

County officials were hoping to use these plans to set future goals and objectives, manage operations, allocate resources and evaluate department accomplishments.

"We're not ending performance measurement," stressed Hamilton. "We're simply saying we need more time - essentially a time out to get it right."

Due to employee downsizing, Hamilton suggested the employee assigned the task be transferred to a more productive position - one that helps coordinate the process of establishing Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBUs) in the county.

Audit Services Director Peggy Caskey also recommended temporary suspension of the program, saying it needs "fine-tuning" and better data collection.

In 2005, the county had spent $80,000 to hire an outside firm to plan, design and implement a performance measurements program. The program has since been coordinated by the Office of Management and Budget.

Each department was accountable for forwarding its data and recordkeeping to that office.

But Caskey said recordkeeping practices are behind schedule, some reporting may not be accurate and some measurements not suitable to gauge performance.

Caskey also cited some redundancy because the utilities, parks and public works departments already have their own system of performance management that they use for budgeting purposes and decision-making.