The Berkeley, California auditor’s office is well-known for the attention it pays to the measurement of performance, under the leadership of Auditor Jenny Wong. Lately, at the request of a councilmember, her office has been conducting “benchmarking and best-practice research on outcome-based budget metrics. The result? “A Guide to Measuring Performance in the City of Berkeley”, a document that provides sound advice for any community on creating useful and credible performance measurement systems.

Not only did the auditor’s office review the community’s budget books, it “reviewed and summarized performance management best practices from leading organizations such as the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and the International City/County Management Association, (ICMA)” according to the report, which was released on February 5, 2026. 

After establishing a strong case for the utility of performance measures for members of the public, the city council, city management, departmental leadership, and external entities like grant-makers, the report provides six detailed steps that are vital to developing quality performance measures:

• Identify stakeholder and population needs

• Identify desired outcomes based on population needs

• Determine how to measure those outcomes

• Develop a data collection process

• Establish baselines and targets

• Establish reporting methods

The report acknowledges that there is room for improvement in Berkeley and cites several opportunities for management consideration there, which can be applied to other entities as well. 

Organize and streamline reporting efforts. “There has been variation in some departments reported performance measures since fiscal year 2022. Maintaining the same measures over time and using standardized reporting periods for performance data could support comparability across years. This could also help council and the public evaluate the city’s progress toward its goals.

“The city could also consider including prior years’ performance measurement data in the budget book for easier comparison and clearer historical context. Berkeley may also consider supplementing budget book performance measure reporting with tools such as dashboards or annual performance measure reports to provide more timely updates between budget cycles.”

Revisit Strategic Plan goals and alignment of performance measures. “City council approved Berkley’s nine strategic planning goals in January 2018. Since that time, there have been leadership changes in both council and city management. Current leadership may decide to reevaluate whether the goals continue to reflect city priorities and determine if any updates are necessary.”

Explore outcomes-based budgeting. “Some jurisdictions allocate funding by desired outcome rather than by department through a process know as outcomes-based budgeting. This type of approach typically requires significant coordination, clear outcomes and mature performance data, and may not be feasible to implement at a citywide level in the near term.” 

(Note: The American Society for Public Administration’s Center for Accountability and Performance is conducting a webinar on April 28^th at 1:00 PM about the pros and cons of outcomes-based budgeting. To register click here).

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