Entry received from: Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana
Category: The Datacom Award for Digital Local Government
Since 1989 when Toi Moana (BOPRC) was formed, we had outsourced the rates collection function to the seven Territorial Local Authorities (TLAs) in the region.
In October 2020 Council set an ambitious, immovable 18-month period to start collecting our own rates t0
- Increase the visibility of the services that we provide.
- Gain direct control over the full rating process.
- Deliver financial efficiencies of $5.9m over the Long-Term Plan.
The change in the rates collection function was a significant change project for us as a Council. We had no experience in large scale rates-collection, no staff solely employed in the rates space, and no systems and process in place.
Based on delivering a Customer First approach, we invested in new digital systems, introduced new technologies, overhauled our telephone and customer services systems, and created a user-friendly customer experience both on and offline.
Eight separate workstreams involving over 70 Council staff in varying capacities participated in the project and succeeded in delivering on time and on budget.
For year one of the new process, of the $82 million rates strike, $62.4 million was collected or committed by the due date, and by 17 March 2023 only 1.7 per cent was outstanding.
Thank you to our category sponsor