Verona, NJ, a vibrant suburban community, has significantly improved its government services by adopting GovPilot’s OPRA Module. This transition has streamlined request processing, enhanced tracking capabilities, and delivered substantial time and cost savings.
Challenge
The Township of Verona processes over 700 OPRA (Open Public Records Act) requestsannually. The traditional process relied heavily on manual data entry and tracking, leading to inefficiencies.
- 🚫 Manual Data Entry: Clerks manually logged request details into Excel, consuming 10–15 minutes per request.
- 🚫 Inefficient Tracking Progress: tracking required color-coded spreadsheets and manual reminders, adding 5–10 minutes per request.
- 🚫 Time-Consuming Workflows:The cumulative burden resulted in significant staff time spent onrepetitive administrative tasks.
These inefficiencies resulted in a frustrating experience for both employees and residents, higher administrative costs, and delays in service.
Solution
To modernize operations, Verona implemented GovPilot’s OPRA Module, transforming the way records requests are processed:
- Digital-First Approach: Applicants now submit OPRA requests through an online digital form, eliminating manual data entry.
- Automated Tracking & Notifications: A customized dashboard provides real-time tracking of request status and auto-reminders to assigned departments.
- Optimized Workflow: Reduced clerical workload, allowing staff to focus on higher-valuetasks while still providing constituents with a better experience.
Results
67% Reduction In Fulfillment Time
Staff are fulfilling requests 4x faster than the previous process allowed online.
100% Online Submissions
117 of 117 (100%) of applications were submitted YTD via the public form in 2025.
24 Hours Monthly
Reclaim 24 staff hours monthly—with even greater savings as adoption grows.
97% Via Email
Leveraging GovPilot’s ability to email attachments of any size to requestors.
