By Kristen Levine

During the Board of Selectman meeting on January 3, Town Manager Kerry Speidel presented a nationally used comparative program put together by the International City Management Association (ICMA). The Center Performance Measurements, or CPM, is a program designed to help communities nationwide learn from each other through side-by-side comparison of town policies and budgets.

    “It introduces performance measurements,” Speidel said. “It’s a benchmark against other communities and how their town government is performing. Not a lot of communities do benchmarking. Those that do are larger than we are, providing a lot of services that we don’t.”

    The ICMA has encouraged Massachusetts towns to join the 775 other communities across the United States that participate in the CPM program.  Benchmark evaluation of Lunenburg against other communities can be highly beneficial to refine both town policies and budgetary planning.

    “It is not tremendously expensive or time-consuming [to participate], and a good amount of data can be viewed as we go through the budget process,” Speidel remarked. “The board is already registered, and in a few weeks we can start entering data for the budget cycle. There is a great deal of value in accruing data to compare against other communities.”

    Selectman David Matthews agreed with the registration and pitch to participate in the program.

    “We have had past discussions that have a recurring theme; how do we know if we are spending well and handling money as it should be. People want to know when they will see a return on the taxes they pay…if we’re doing the right thing with money. It’s good to show how we do things internally. We can compare notes with others.”

   ...

For the rest of this article, pick up a copy of The Lunenburg Ledger in stores now, or call (978) 582-8200 to subscribe today!