The Town of Miami Lakes released its Quarterly Performance Report, as city officials continue to improve how the town delivers municipal services to the satisfaction of area residents.
To enhance the quality of services, the town has each department set realistic goals or targets, which they can work toward achieving, and implementing measures that will be of use for making major decisions.
“Transparency in government is always talked about; however, the difference in Miami Lakes is that we have taken great strides in implementing and delivering a truly transparent government,” said Councilmember Ceasar Mestre.
The Performance Report provides a narrative for each performance area the town measures and shares information on departmental goals and successes. “Performance Management is all about having an accountable and efficient municipal government,” said Vice Mayor Manny Cid. “This new system promotes transparency and empowers our residents by being able to measure the effectiveness of townwide programs or expenditures.”
“As we continue working to enhance our communications with residents and strengthen the effectiveness of our service delivery, these quarterly performance reports are a great step in the right direction,” said Mayor Wayne Slaton.
Highlights of the first Performance Report include:
Since incorporation, Public Safety has been the top priority and law enforcement officials have kept the crime rate low over the past decade. The town’s police department finished with some of its best performance to close out 2013.
New town commander Major Gene Dieppa inherited one of the lowest police targeted crime rate months over the past three years, with only 32 targeted crimes reported in December 2013.
However, there was an increase of 27 more vehicular burglaries from October to November 2013, but 10 of those criminals were apprehended, reflecting the decreased targeted crime rate in December.
For the current fiscal year, the number of police calls for service has ranged from a weekly low of 284 to a high of 339, averaging about 128 calls per month.
Of the 3,745 calls for service from October to December, only 19 were placed on hold.
In addition, the number of police citations issued is trending less than the previous two fiscal years by about 115 citations.
This is due to the police placing more of their focus on reducing the amount of targeted crimes in Miami Lakes.
Town issued Building Permits for the current fiscal year has been higher than in previous years. In December, 275 permits were issued, one of the highest months over the past three years.
The number of building inspections performed has increased by 200 compared to December 2013.
For Planning and Zoning in October, there was a rise in the number of zoning verification requests received due to The Graham Companies refinancing properties.
For Transit Services, ridership on the Miami Lakes Mover increased in October and November and has doubled so far in 2014.
For Public Works, the town has 2,046 street lights in Miami Lakes, and the town has continued to meet its goal of maintaining a working percentage of 99 percent.
The average number of non-working street lights from October to December was 22.
For Code Compliance, the town is progressing toward the expected budgeted revenue of $100,000 from code fines for 2014. A total of $47,482 fines have been collected so far this fiscal year.
The code compliance department has maintained its level of proactive monitoring and notification. The number of code cases opened this fiscal year is 229.
For Community and Leisure Services, Miami Lakes surpassed its tree trimming goal this past year by 2,096, and the town has set a goal of 5,000 trees to be trimmed.
Miami Lakes has a total of 17,832 trees with 12,096 being trimmed over the past two years, if this year’s goal is met.