One of Money magazine’s 50 best places to live in the United States just became better, thanks to GovPilot.
Challenge
Receiving approximately 1,000 open public records requests per year, Union’s clerks were “inundated with paper” and frustrated with the amount of time spent fulfilling these requests. Having had previous success with GovPilot’s Rental Registration and Dog License Modules, Union Township decided to apply GovPilot automation to streamline management of open public records requests.
Solution
Union Township deployed GovPilot’s Open Public Records Request Module. The process was simple. Union’s designated GovPilot Business Analyst documented the Township’s rules and customized the templated module to fulfill its needs. People requesting information are now directed to a digital form, which can be accessed through the municipal website. Requests cannot be submitted until all required fields are populated. Requests are now received electronically and routed to the appropriate departments with a time stamp. The GovPilot module forwards additional notifications to department heads as due dates approach. The Township has been able to save a tremendous amount of time by adopting GovPilot’s Open Public Records Request Module.
Union Township went from communicating status updates to applicants through a combination of email, regular mail and phone to relying on GovPilot automation.
The Township migrated management of open records request timelines from physical filing cabinets to GovPilot’s convenient cloud-based system.
Results
90% Fewer Calls
Decrease in phone calls per month (Average # of calls reduced from 35 to 3)
57% Less Time
Drop in time spent communicating with requestors/other departments (70% of day to 30%)
2X Efficiency
Increased efficiency (Two employees dedicated to OPRA reduced to one)
91% Form Reduction
Decrease in improperly/illegibly completed request forms (60% to 5%)
"GovPilot has streamlined the entire process and it is easier to keep track of the requests. The best part is no paper!"
