City of Saco, Maine’s Experience with Citizen Centric Reporting

By: Lisa Parker, CPA

Lisa Parker, CPA, a member of AGA’s Maine Chapter, is a project manager with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Until recently she was the finance director for the City of Saco, Maine.

The City of Saco, Maine issued its first performance report, Delivery of City Services—Fiscal Year 2004, in January of 2005. This 94-page report measured the performance of all 11 city departments and omitted only the performance of the school department, which is governed by a separately elected Board of Education. Due to the size of the report, the performance information provided was not being fully utilized by a wide range of citizens in Saco to assess governmental accountability and to enhance their ability to make economic, social and political decisions. The performance information was, however, being used by department heads in the management of their departments in order to improve internal performance, and during budget deliberations with the city council to justify their requests for additional funding to enhance existing service levels. As a result, the city recognized that an additional communication mechanism would be needed to more effectively communicate performance information to its citizens and other potential users.

To accompany the city’s second annual performance report, Delivery of City Services—Fiscal Year 2005, the city also prepared a shorter handout version of the report that included the executive summary, one measure from each of the 11 departments, and the website address where the entire report could be reviewed. These handouts were distributed locally at city hall, the public library and major grocery stores. The city simultaneously began issuing a digital monthly newsletter, which highlighted the performance measurement information of one city department each month. However, the citizen satisfaction survey results were still not reflecting higher levels of satisfaction for the effective communication of governmental accountability.

In December of 2006, with the release of the city’s third annual performance report, Delivery of City Services—Fiscal Year 2006, the City of Saco, Maine, supplemented that report by becoming the first in the country to issue a Citizen-Centric Report following AGA’s recommended model. The four-page report was published in the local newspaper and a press conference was held to alert all media sources of this important release. Mayor Mark Johnston so eloquently stated, “We know that governments have a reputation for being good at collecting taxes but not necessarily as good at being accountable for how those tax dollars are spent. Saco wants to change that. This report has both the good and the bad. And while I’m glad to say there’s more ‘good’ to report in Saco these days, this report is chock full of challenges coming down the pike. We’re hoping to inform a thoughtful debate on these issues.”

The concise, four-page document is intended to engage citizens and spark their interest to learn more about city services delivered, policies established and how well the organization is achieving its goals and objectives. Charts and graphs aid in making the information visually aesthetic and easier to understand for those who do not care for the monotony of pages filled with text. Each page of Saco’s report covers specific information and has a reference to the city’s website where the entire volume of the comprehensive annual financial report, the distinguished budget document and the annual performance report can be reviewed for more detailed information. The Citizen-Centric Report will provide for comparability from one year to the next or with similar organizations if prepared consistently with the same type of information on each page. The contents of each page within the City of Saco report are as follows:
➢ Page 1: Strategic objectives and demographics
➢ Page 2: Notable accomplishments
➢ Page 3: Revenues and expenses for city operations
➢ Page 4: Challenges moving forward/future issues

This same format was used again with the dissemination of the city’s second Citizen-Centric Report in 2007. For complete copies of the city’s four AGA award-winning performance reports (Certificates of Excellence in Service Efforts and Accomplishments Reporting) and the two released Citizen-Centric Reports, please visit the city’s website at www.sacomaine.org. The three completed citizen satisfaction surveys can also be reviewed at this website, displaying an increase in citizen satisfaction with the city’s communication efforts between the second and the third surveys. Due to the fact that the second survey was conducted prior to the release of the 2006 Citizen Centric Report and the third survey was conducted after its release, the city has concluded that the increase in satisfaction can be attributable to this effort.

What types of citizen centric communication documents do your governments currently use to disseminate financial, budget and performance information? Do they engage citizens in assessing government accountability and in making economic, social and political decisions?

TOMORROW: Mike Kristek, CGFM, recently retired from the U.S. Department of Energy, on "Are the IGs and Other Federal Auditors Doing Enough to Improve Government Accountability?"

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