Municipal Benchmarks: Assessing Local Performance and Establishing Community Standards / Edition 2

by David N. Ammons

Overview

This book helps elected and appointed government officials and citizens assess and establish standards for the efficient and effective delivery of quality services. Actual benchmarks are provided for numerous services such as libraries, parks and recreation, public works, emergency medical services, courts, animal control, risk management and public transport.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761920786
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	02/21/2001
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

David Ammons joined the School of Government (then the Institute of Government) in 1996. Prior to that, he was a faculty member at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia and taught in the public administration programs at Georgia and the University of North Texas. Early in his career he served on the staffs of four municipalities—Fort Worth, Texas; Hurst, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee—in various administrative capacities. Among his seven books on local governmentmanagement are Municipal Benchmarks: Assessing Local Performance and Establishing Community Standards (Sage Publications, 2001); Leading Performance Management in Local Government (ICMA, 2008); and Tools for Decision Making: A Practical Guide for Local Government (CQ Press, 2009). Ammons earned a Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma

Table of Contents

Introduction
Performance Measurement and Benchmarking
Animal Control
City Attorney
City Clerk
Courts
Development Administration
Emergency Communications
Emergency Medical Services
Finance
Fire Service
Fleet Maintenance
Gas and Electric Services
Human Resource Administration
Information Systems
Library
Management Services
Executive Offices, Budget, Management Audit
Parking Services
Parks and Recreation
Police
Property Appraisal
Public Health
Public Transit
Public Works
Engineering and Miscellaneous Services
Purchasing and Warehousing
Risk Management
Social Services
Solid Waste Collection
Streets, Sidewalks and Storm Drainage
Traffic Engineering and Control
Utilities Business Office
Water and Sewer Services
Performance Milestones

Editorial Reviews

"The book is a tremendous contribution to the public management profession. David N. Ammons has included all of the salient service benchmarks that will finally give academicians and practitioners alike a reference document for assessing municipal functional performances. I hope that the information will be updated often."

Sylvester Murray

"For officials who would like to benchmark their government’s performance to external norms and standards, but who lack the resources to do it, I believe this book will prove itself as a valuable resource, both for the large amount of actual performance data included and for the quality of analysis of the indicators themselves. . . . Many helpful reference tools are provided."

GOVERNMENT FINANCE REVIEW

"For officials who would like to benchmark their government’s performance to external norms and standards, but who lack the resources to do it, I believe this book will prove itself as a valuable resource, both for the large amount of actual performance data included and for the quality of analysis of the indicators themselves. . . . Many helpful reference tools are provided."

Government Finance Review

Ammons (public administration, U. of North Carolina) put together this guide to benchmarks for mayors, city council members, city managers, department heads, management analysts, and citizens who want a measuring rod for local government services. He includes national standards, "engineered" standards, statistical norms, rules of thumb, selected statistics from comparative performance measurement projects, excerpts from performance records, and performance targets of a number of cities. Chapters cover an array of services from animal control to traffic engineering to libraries and parks. The second edition includes newly adopted performance targets and updated standards for fire, police, and emergency medical service. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews