The City of Fort Collins has been recognized for achieving 2021 What Works Cities Certification, the national standard of excellence in data-driven city governance. What Works Cities Certification evaluates how well cities are managed by measuring the extent to which city leaders incorporate data and evidence in their decision-making.
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Fort Collins achieved Certification at the Silver level, is one of 16 cities to be newly certified this year and one of only 40 cities to be certified since the program began in April 2017. What Works Cities is a national initiative launched by Bloomberg Philanthropies to help cities use data and evidence more effectively to tackle their most pressing challenges.
Over the past year, Fort Collins has demonstrated measurable progress on these foundational data practices.
Some notable examples of the City’s use of data include:
• Landscape Water Budget Program: Using hourly water use data to provide suggested water-use budgets to commercial irrigation customers, empowering them to make water conservation decisions for their properties.
• Proactive Utility Account Outreach: during the pandemic, Fort Collins Utilities leveraged its customer account data to identify customers who had fallen behind on payments to reach out directly with information about various payment assistance programs.
• Performance Measurement: every budget proposal and strategic plan objective are tied to concrete performance measures that allow the city to track progress and community impact, and make service adjustments when needed.
The City of Fort Collins also makes data sets available to the public at opendata.fcgov.com to promote transparency and encourage innovation among community members.
What Works Cities Certification was developed by a team of experts from Results for America in close consultation with the What Works Cities Certification Standard Committee. To evaluate cities, these experts conducted a rigorous validation process of cities’ Certification assessments and participated in site visits to the highest-performing cities to determine the city’s Certification level.