Local government has always acted as the backbone of a city. Whether it’s overseeing school districts, managing public libraries, or maintaining sanitary sewers – it really lays the foundation for how a city operates. With all this responsibility comes a lot of work, and with a lot of work comes even more paper.
With paper overcrowding local government, it’s interesting that more local government offices haven’t abandoned the “old school’ paper processes. It’s time for local government to become more knowledgeable about web-based application processes and take stepping stones toward a paperless office.
Here are the top 3 reasons paper should be eliminated from local government:
- Paper forms are “old school”: Making constituents fill out paper forms is a thing of the past and takes too long to process. The information is going to be inserted into the computer anyways so the constituents might as well do it themselves.
- Manually entering data is laborious: There is nothing more time-consuming and unnecessary than making staff manually enter data. Not only does it waste time, but it also wastes money paying for staff that could be working in other useful areas. Manually entering data is also more prone to errors.
- Making constituents call for status updates is time-consuming: Not only is it annoying for constituents to have to stop what they are doing and call for updates, but it’s also annoying for staff. Answering the phone interrupts the process and makes it take longer. Neither party has time for phone calls so why have them in the first place?
With our help, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) eliminated these burdens from their office and implemented a new web-based application process this past November. They are now happy to announce through a recent press release that they have approved the 100th online application for coverage under their stormwater construction general permit.
With their previous permitting process, it took more than two weeks for an application to be processed and approved. Their new online process cuts that time frame down to a one-day turnaround for most applications. It prevents the need for NDEQ staff to re-input information submitted by the applicant, and reduces lag time of paperwork being sent back and forth.
“This new online system has facilitated fast application processing, while ensuring that the state fulfills its duty to protect Nebraska’s clean air and clean water,” Governor Pete Ricketts said. “A more customer-friendly state government will encourage continued growth across our state.”
For more information on how to take stepping stones toward a paperless government like NDEQ, contact one of our business process experts today.
