This article discusses the expanding role of performance management in ensuring effective and effecient delivery of high-quality local government services. According to the author, if performance measurement is simply viewed as a data-collection-and-reporting exercise, it will serve little purpose to a community. Instead, local governments should use performance data to encourage the use of goals and outcomes in budget decisions, help set targets of performance, benchmark against other jurisdictions, and communicate service improvements to citizens. This article includes discussions of the peformance measurement process, effective uses of performance information, and why peformance matters to local governments.