North Carolina Benchmarking Project Report 2023: Challenges and Innovations

The North Carolina Benchmarking Project was established in 1995 so that participating municipalities could compare service data and performance trends. In 2022, the Benchmarking Project relaunched as Benchmarking 2.0 with a new emphasis on collaboration and relationship-building. Benchmarking 2.0 offers revised framework metrics, streamlined data collection, an interactive online dashboard, and intensive in-person performance strategy sessions. 

Current Partners: Apex, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Concord, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Hickory, Raleigh, Wilson, and Winston-Salem.

Services: Asphalt Maintenance and Repair, Building Inspections, Central Human Resources, Emergency Communications, Fire Service, Fleet Maintenance, Parks and Recreation, Police Service, Solid Waste Management, Wastewater Service, and Water Service.

Interactive Dashboard: Every October, the School of Government receives data from its partners through the Benchmarking 2.0 Data Collection Tool. The School audits the data then uploads it to the interactive dashboard by November 1 so that service departments across the state can use it to analyze and compare in-depth data and performance trends. The dashboard includes an array of easy-to-use features that make it possible to apply data normalization and calculate percentages, averages, and confidence intervals across comparison units. Informative, detailed charts can be downloaded as shareable PDFs.