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1. Where does the information in the actual, target and results fields come from?

Actual: Departments provide data to the Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) using sources utilized by the department. For example, the Finance Department sends OSI data from the Fort Bend County Central Appraisal District for the Residential Revaluation Goal Measure.

Target: Individual Goal Measure targets are provided by the department that owns the Goal Measure. Targets are either based on historical data, or, current levels of service. All targets have been approved by the city’s Executive Team and are reviewed annually with the City Council during the City Council Fall Retreat.

Results: The “results” field will refer to the following terms:

• Quarters:
  • Terms such as Q2-17 refer to the quarter and fiscal year in which the displayed data was collected.
  • Terms such as Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 refer to the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of the Fiscal Year.
• Fiscal Year:
  • Terms such as “FY” on the dashboard refers to the city’s Fiscal Year.
  • The City’s Fiscal Year begins on October 1st, and ends the following year on September 30th.
  • We are currently in Fiscal Year 2017, or, FY17 as it is often referred. 
• “View Full Details:”
  • Terms such as “View Full Details” means that Goal Measure is tracking more than one element, and has too much information to display on the page.
  • In order to view the full details of the measure, click on the measure name.
  • For example, the Event Attendance Goal Measure tracks the results for four different destination venues. Therefore, you would need to click on the measure name to see the individual results.

2. Was there any citizen input for this strategic project?

In 2014, the City Council began developing measures of success for each Mid-Term Priority. This process began the development of the City Council Goal Measures. By 2015 the City Council formally adopted 30 Goal Measures by Resolution. Our representative body has been heavily engaged throughout this process, but staff took citizen involvement to the next level in 2016 with the formation of citizen focus groups. The focus groups were included in the dashboard review process and were comprised of various civic organizations including: Homeowners Association Members, Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni, and Sugar Land 101 Alumni.

Citizen involvement does not stop at the focus groups. The Goal Measures Dashboard has a feedback feature where visitors to the website are free to comment and ask questions about the dashboard directly to staff.

3. How are Mid-Term Priorities and Goal Measures related?

The City of Sugar Land’s long-term vision for our community states that by 2032 Sugar Land will:

• Be a safe, beautiful, inclusive, and environmentally responsible community;
• Will have destination activity centers, great neighborhoods, superior mobility, outstanding cultural, educational and recreational opportunities, and is a regional business center of excellence;
• Will have balanced development and redevelopment; and
• Will be a community that takes pride in Sugar Land.

In order to achieve our long-term vision, the City Council has established mid-term priorities. Through the establishment of mid-term priorities, the City Council provides direction for the City. These priorities and strategies have a five-year planning horizon and complement the goals detailed in our Vision. The five Mid-Term Priorities are: Safest City in America, Strong Local Economy, Responsible City Government, and Great Place to Live. Therefore, the City Council selected 30 Goal Measures that they believe best measure our success at achieving the Mid-Term Priorities. Each Goal Measure links the performance of key operations to the City Council Mid-Term Priorities.

4. Why are we not using an average response time?

Using an average response time has the potential to imply that residents should expect our first responders to arrive by the reported average response time. However, reporting an average response time is actually committing to respond to slightly more than 50% of emergency calls within the average response time. Therefore, our measure is more accurate because it provides residents with the percentage of emergency calls responded to within a target time based on current levels of service.

5. Why is 100% not our goal?

The targets for our Goal Measures are based off of both the City’s current levels of service and historical data. As such, it was important to the City to set targets that are achievable. Because the City of Sugar Land holds the value of continuous improvement in high esteem, individual Goal Measures, results, and targets are reviewed annually with the City Council. For example, if the City has been consistently meeting a target, staff and City Council would discuss making the target more stringent during this annual review process.

6. How is the city held accountable for these scores?

The City is held accountable for our results in three major ways:

• All results are reviewed with the City’s Executive Team.
• Quarterly, a detailed report is provided to our City Council outlining the results, and these results are then made public on the Goal Measures Dashboard.
• If a measure consistently falls short of its target, staff will create an action plan with the intention to enhance City processes and improve results.

7. Why did council choose the 5 mid-term priorities?

The current Mid-Term Priorities were selected because they provide the proper direction for our City Council to achieve our long-term vision. The long-term vision, as well as the Mid-Term Priorities, are reviewed annually by the City Council. This is to ensure the selected Mid-Term Priorities will continue to provide the ideal path for achieving our long-term vision.

8. How often are the measures evaluated/updated?

Goal Measures data is collected and reported each quarter – with the exception of measures that are reported annually. However, it is important to note that our “Citizen Survey” measures are collected once every few years.

9. As a resident, why is this important to me?

As a City government, it is important to remain accountable and transparent to our residents. Therefore, the Goal Measures Dashboard empowers our residents and visitors to review the City’s progress on achieving its goals. The dashboard also assists City Management and City Council in making data-driven decisions on key priority areas.