ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: December 4, 1995
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: City Treasurer, in consultation with Manager of Facilities
Development
SUBJECT: Revenue and Treasury Office Renovations
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve renovations to create an improved Customer
Service Area on the main floor of City Hall and to facilitate the
relocation of Bylaw Fines Collections functions from 190 Alexander
Street, at a cost of $265,000; source of the funds to be the
existing allocation for the City Hall Precinct in the 1995 Capital
Budget.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Corporate Services RECOMMENDS approval of
the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
In March 1995, the report on First Steps to Better City Government
identified the billing and revenue collection processes as one of
fifteen areas for re-engineering improvements.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to seek funding for renovations to the
Revenue and Treasury offices on the main floor of City Hall, including
relocating most of the Bylaw Fines staff from leased space at 190
Alexander Street. These actions are directed to improving service to our
customers and realizing savings on leasing costs.BACKGROUND
In advance of corporate initiatives for Better City Government, a
Treasury Performance Improvement Project began in November 1993. In
September 1994, its final report recommended:
- streamlining work flows
- improving customer access
- developing a new bylaw fines structure
- automating billing and revenue collection systems
The proposed facility at City Hall, including the Bylaw Fines collection
office, will provide more convenient services in one place for the
citizen who pays taxes, parking tickets, utility bills and purchases
garbage stickers. A customer entering the Customer Service Area will
experience work stations which are focused to deal with the in-person
customer, and where each work station can provide complete service. As
well, provision will be made so that the services may be extended, in
the future,to include other services such as purchasing dog tags,
renewing business licenses, parking permits and so on. This project is
the first step in creating an integrated customer service area on the
ground floor of the Main Building.
DISCUSSION
Current Operations
Currently, the Revenue and Treasury division is organized by functional
areas. The Property Tax, Water & Sanitation Billing Branches and the
Treasury offices are located on the main floor of City Hall. The Bylaw
Fines Collections office is located downtown at 190 Alexander Street.
Historically, this downtown location was to maintain a close working
relationship with the Provincial Traffic Courts. However, the separation
of these areas is inefficient both in providing customer service and in
duplicating processes.
The current experience for our customers is, at times, inconvenient. Our
customers have told us that sometimes they get the "run around" when
needing service from more than one of these areas. A customer must
attend one of several counters in the Treasury area, then line up again
at a cashier wicket to pay the bill. If the desired service includes
paying or disputing a parking ticket, the customer must go to the
downtown office for a similar process.Throughout the Treasury
Improvement Project, customer expectations were very clear -- the need
for improved access to City services. Our vision is:
- to provide a "one-stop" service for treasury customers in
person or on the telephone
- access in different languages
- accurate and clear information by mail, facsimile, and in
person
- parking tickets and tax statements which are easier to
understand
- more ways to pay City bills with credit/debit cards, and by
telephone
The Diversity Communication Project which was recently reported to
Council, confirmed many of these customer expectations. The proposed
renovations are the first steps in addressing customer concerns. To
reach the vision, an evolutionary process is needed. Staff will need
several months to be cross-trained to work in teams in a new
environment. When new hardware and software is in place, procedures will
change and new "corporate" services can be considered in the area.
Proposed Changes
The main thrust of the changes is to create multi-functional work
stations which are more welcoming for the in-person customer, as well as
to accommodate staff relocated from the Bylaw Fines Office at 190
Alexander Street.
The existing 7,000 square foot area at City Hall contains a public space
and an office area for 44 staff. Consolidation will add 13 staff from
the Bylaw Fines and 8 process servers for a total of 65 staff. We
propose to accommodate the additional staff by reconfiguring the current
space and utilizing modular furniture. Three staff will remain in a
reduced, renovated space of 690 square foot at 190 Alexander Street to
handle those procedures which cannot be easily separated and performed
through electronic means at City Hall due to Provincial Courts current
procedures. We estimate that relocation of the Bylaw Fines Branch to
City Hall will save annual leasing costs of approximately $50,000.
A subsequent Council report will deal with the technology
infrastructure, both hardware and software, required to support this
integrated service environment and other "one-stop shop" proposals for
the rest of the main floor. The proposed renovations will be designed to
facilitate an evolutionary process to change as resources and staff are
ready.
Details of the proposed renovations are included in Appendix A.
Estimated Costs
The estimated costs are as follows:
Renovation of Ground Floor $ 235,000Modify
remaining office at 190 Alexander Street 10,000
Project Management 12,000G S T
(3%) 8,000
Total $ 265,000
The $265,000 for the project is available in the existing allocation for
the City Hall Precinct in the 1995 Capital Budget. We estimate that the
cost of the modular furniture mentioned earlier in this report is
$95,000, including all taxes, delivery and installation. Staff will
approach the Corporate Management Team to seek funding from the Service
Improvement Reserve for the cost of this furniture, following a process
previously approved by Council, and the Reserve will be re-paid from the
savings in the lease cost at 190 Alexander.
The cost of the hardware and software is not known at this time and will
be the subject of a separate report to Council at a later date.
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