City Issues Third Performance Scorecard

The city has released its third annual Performance Scorecard, which evaluates the city’s delivery of core services to city residents, including public safety, environmental health, transportation, community and economic development, and recreation services.

Citizens gave the city an overall grade of B-plus, the same as last year. Of the 11 departments that were individually graded, citizens gave improved grades to five departments and a lower grade to one.

The Performance Score includes information about the Police, Fire, Transportation, Neighborhood Services, Recreation and Parks, Sanitation and Public Assembly Facilities departments, the Utilities, Streets, Stormwater Management and Inspections divisions and the Winston-Salem Transit Authority.

It measures results against established performance goals, includes information about each department’s workload and productivity, and, when applicable, compares performance and costs with Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro and Charlotte. The report also includes results for the three previous fiscal years and data from a telephone survey of citizens conducted in October 2008.

Findings in the report include:

• Four departments improved their grades to B-plus from B or B-minus: Utilities, Transportation, Inspections and the Winston-Salem Transit Authority. Streets improved to a B from a B-minus. Sanitation dropped to a B-plus from an A-minus.
• The Fire Department improved in all six measures of fire prevention and fire suppression and reduced its average response time to a fire or medical call to four minutes and seven seconds – just short of its goal of responding to calls within four minutes.
• The Police Department improved in three of four measures. Its average response time to priority calls dropped to four minutes and 3 seconds, just over its goal of four minutes, but well within the national standard of six minutes.
• The Utilities Division met its goal of complying with 100 percent of federal and state drinking water standards.
• The Sanitation Department met its goal of missing less than one percent of garbage collections every month but fell well short of its goal of completing leaf-collection routes on time because the leaves were slow to drop last year.
• The Streets Division exceeded its goal of repairing 80 percent of reported potholes within 24 hours, but only 62 percent of city streets met the goal for pavement condition.
• The Stormwater Management Division met its goal of responding to all illicit discharge complaints within 24 hours.
• The Transportation Department responded in an average of 24 minutes to reports of a traffic signal malfunction, well under its goal of 30 minutes.

In a cover letter forwarding the report to Mayor Allen Joines and the City Council, City Manager Lee Garrity said that department heads will develop strategies to improve services that did not receive an “A.” “Despite budget constraints imposed by the economic recession,” Garrity said, “the level of citizen satisfaction has remained at a B-plus overall and most performance indicators have been maintained at expected levels of achievement.”

The complete Performance Scorecard, along with the full results of the Citizens Satisfaction Survey conducted in October 2008, is posted online.

Performance Scorecard

Interest Income Gained from Dell Refund

City taxpayers came out $34,728 ahead by the city’s decision to offer a discount on the refund Dell owed the city in exchange for early payment.

Dell originally was scheduled to refund on Feb. 1 the $15,556,071 that it received in city incentives to build its computer assembly plant in Forsyth County. In October, the city offered to reduce the refund at an annual rate of 1 percent if Dell refunded the money ahead of schedule. Dell accepted that offer and refunded $15,517,246 on Nov. 2.

The city invested the refund in federally guaranteed agency bonds. Clark Case, the city treasurer, reported last month that the city earned $73,553.56 in interest and market value appreciate on the bonds from Nov. 2 through Feb. 1 – $34,728.11 more than the $38,825.45 the city gave up when it accepted the early refund.

Mayor Allen Joines said the investment return demonstrates the wisdom of taking the early payment to eliminate any possibility of the community not getting reimbursed.

“The city has not only benefitted by having Dell make the payment, but also has received over $34,800 more than it would have, if it had waited until February to receive the payment as set forth in our contract with Dell,” Joines said.

“In fact, the city will be even further ahead because Dell has extended the date it will cease operations to April 30. Under the original contract the city would not have received payment from Dell until June. Therefore, the city should gain another $90,000 in earnings.”

Chief Financial Officer Denise Bell said the city will continue to invest the money for the best possible, safe income until the funds are used.

Utilities to Repair Ardmore Sewer Lines

A comprehensive project to examine and repair sewer lines in the Ardmore neighborhood is scheduled to begin March 1.

Under a $793,000 contract awarded in January by the City/County Utility Commission, Southeast Pipe Survey Inc. will examine sewer pipes in the area bounded by Business 40, Peters Creek Parkway, and Silas Creek Parkway. Sections will be replaced as needed.

Crews will work block-by-block. No lengthy street closures are expected. However, when a section of pipe must be replaced, a block typically will be closed from a day to a week. Detours will be posted when necessary.

The project is scheduled to take 180 days to complete. For more information, call City Link at 727-8000.