The City of Austin has published its annual performance report – and it looks different.

The previous year’s 216-page PDF format has been upgraded this year not only with the latest performance results but with photos and charts on an interactive platform.

Austin is among the first few cities to launch Seattle, Wash.-based Socrata’s Perspectives platform that presents data with context and visuals. All data in the Performance ATX annual report is publicly available on the City’s recently redesigned Open Data Portal.

“This is an important step in providing the Austin community with an easier way to interact with how their government is performing,” said Kimberly Springer-Olivares, the City’s Acting Chief Performance Officer. “We are excited to make this digital report available and hope it enriches our civic dialogue around how the City is delivering public services and responding to community needs, and how we can continue to do better.”

The annual performance report captures goals and results achieved by City departments providing direct services during the 2014-15 fiscal year -- Oct. 1, 2014, to Sept. 30, 2015.

Overall, here is how the City performed based on more than 120 key measures:

• 59 percent of targets were exceeded or met.
• 77 percent of targets were exceeded, met or came within 3 percent.
• 73 percent of target performance was maintained or improved over a five-year timeframe or from when the measure was first tracked.

The City will likely never reach 100 percent because the emphasis is on setting realistic, yet challenging targets. Tracking performance data increases accountability and helps City leaders see how the organization is progressing and pinpoint areas for improvement.

The report features a “Citywide dashboard” of 21 critical indicators and is organized around public safety, mobility and infrastructure, development services, utilities and major business, community services, and financial health. View the data and commentary in the full Performance ATX report.

For more information, please visit City of Austin, TX