City staff presents updated performance measures; traffic-accident target deferred

Mountlake Terrace staff presented a revised set of citywide performance measures on April 24 intended to align the council’s strategic priorities with measurable, time‑bound indicators.

Carolyn Hope introduced the updated list, which links specific measures to responsible departments, baseline data and proposed goals. Staff said the package is designed to be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time‑bound) and to reflect the adopted budget and regulatory compliance needs.

Notable changes and council questions: staff removed a traffic-accident performance metric that had used last year’s accident count as a target after council questioned whether a zero-target approach or a different target would be more appropriate; staff said they will revisit that metric after additional data review. Councilmembers also discussed whether financial-policy measures should appear as stand-alone performance metrics; staff proposed including financial policy tracking in the quarterly financial reports rather than as a separate performance-measure line item. The council asked staff to return with additional analysis before finalizing performance choices tied to resident use of the recreation pavilion and to consider how resident priorities, registration policies and cost-recovery goals should be captured.

Ending: Staff will incorporate council feedback, refine baselines for selected measures and provide follow-up detail in upcoming financial and performance reporting.