Currently, while Parks and Recreation accurately estimates workload requirements using national standards, the Department has relatively little information on the actual amount of time associated with horticulture and gardening activities. In order to build upon the robust foundation of tools and data already collected by the Division, it is important to begin tracking activity time associated with key landscaping activities in a similar manner to tracking time associated with mowing activities. This information can be easily captured using the Department’s current inventory and applied to determine actual cycle times and associated labor costs with providing landscaping service. In effect, this will allow the Department to more accurately forecast the time it takes Charlottesville crews to accomplish tasks and the total costs associated with those tasks, which will in turn strengthen the Department’s ability to articulate how changes in service levels will impact employees, costs, and overall service delivery.
