Contact: Gerald Young; Senior Research Associate, gyoung@icma.org or 360-689-9784

Washington, DC — Fifty-seven local governments earned Certificates in Performance Management from ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, for instilling a culture of performance management, pursuing comparative analysis and data-informed decision making, and promoting transparency. Presented annually, these certificates are part of ICMA’s ongoing efforts to honor and advance exemplary management initiatives on the local level.

“Maintaining the objectivity essential to successful local government management requires both technical and cultural commitments to performance management” said Marc Ott, executive director, ICMA. “ICMA’s Certificates in Performance Management recognize the local governments who have made those commitments and integrated the essential tasks of measurement and analysis into their everyday work.”

The certificates are based on established criteria and are awarded at three levels: Achievement, Distinction, and the highest level of recognition, Excellence.  Recipients at all levels collect and verify data to ensure reliability, train staff in performance measurement, and report data to the public through budgets, newsletters, and/or information provided to elected officials.

Certificates of Distinction are awarded to those who also provide comparative and benchmarking information to the public, use performance data in strategic planning and operational decision-making, and share their knowledge with other local governments through presentations, site visits, and other networking activities.

Certificates of Excellence go to those who also track and report key outcomes, survey residents and local government employees, incorporate data into performance dashboards or other visual communications, and foster the development of a performance culture throughout their organizations.     

Examples of programs that exemplify the certificate criteria appear on the Certificate Program page on the ICMA website alongside the complete list of this year’s recipients.

Criteria for the 2019 certificates will be announced in November 2018, and any local government entity may apply. For further information, contact gyoung@icma.org. Want to Hear More About Performance Management? Browse the ICMA Performance Management topic and add it to your interests.

ICMA will officially acknowledge the 2018 Certificate of Excellence recipients at its 104th Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, September 23-26, and in the October 2018 issue of PM (Public Management) magazine.

A complete list of recipients may be found below.

• Alachua County, FL
• Albany, OR
• Austin, TX
• Bayside, WI
• Bellevue, WA
• Clayton, MO
• Coral Springs, FL
• Durham, NC
• Fairfax County, VA
• Fayetteville, NC
• Fort Collins, CO
• Fort Lauderdale, FL
• Gardner, KS
• Gilbert, AZ
• Gunnison County, CO
• Kansas City, MO
• Montgomery County, MD
• New Orleans, LA
• Oklahoma City, OK
• Olathe, KS
• Pinehurst, NC
• Poudre Fire Authority, CO
• Rock Hill, SC
• San Antonio, TX
• San Francisco, CA
• San Mateo County, CA
• Scottsdale, AZ
• Tamarac, FL
• Woodbury, MN
   

• Bernalillo County, NM
• Dallas, TX
• Edmonton, AB
• Farmers Branch, TX
• Fort Worth, TX
• Greer, SC
• Mesa, AZ
• Palm Coast, FL
• Phoenix, AZ
• Sheboygan, WI
• Suwanee, GA
• Wichita, KS
• Williamsburg, VA

Certificate of Achievement

• Algonquin, IL
• Bettendorf, IA
• Colorado Springs, CO
• DeLand, FL
• Grafton, WI
• Hillsborough, NC
• Loudoun County, VA
• Maitland, FL
• Maui County, HI
• New Glarus, WI
• North Hampstead, NY
• San Jose, CA
• Southlake, TX
• Stanly County, NC
• Winston-Salem, NC