ORLANDO, Fla., May 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orange
County Property Appraiser's Office (OCPA) has been named Customer
Service Team of the Year, and has received a Gold Stevie® Award for
excellence in the 17th Annual American Business Awards.
The office was recognized for pioneering multiple outstanding
programs.
More than 3,800 nominations from organizations in virtually
every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide
range of categories. Judged by some 200 professionals worldwide,
the Stevie Awards are nicknamed for the Greek word meaning
"crowned." The awards will be presented to winners this summer.
"With a 99.8% satisfaction score, the customer service team at
OCPA has changed the culture of the entire organization, showing
all OCPA staff the importance and effectiveness of excellent
service to taxpayers," said Property Appraiser Rick Singh, CFA.
"Since I took office in 2013, we have been committed to leveraging
technology, educating the community, and effectively distributing
meaningful information to property owners. Our entire agency
supports these efforts and takes great pride in offering excellent
service to the residents in our community."
"The nominations submitted to the 2019 American Business Awards
were outstanding. They illustrate the continued vibrancy of
innovation and high level of achievement across the American
economic landscape," said Michael
Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.
OCPA won top marks from the judges for their customer
satisfaction metrics, labor efficiency, and a combination of
ambitious, innovative programs implemented by the department,
including:
Customer Satisfaction – Federal, state and local
government efficiency standards are generally below that of the
private sector, which itself is suffering from low customer
satisfaction ratings. Since 2017 the Orange County Property
Appraiser's office has collected over 14,000 customer satisfaction
surveys, indicating an overall rating average of 99.8%. In 2018,
the OCPA Customer Service & Outreach department served over
9,000 lobby customers with an average wait time of under 2 minutes,
and 71,000 telephone customers with an average hold time of just
over 30 seconds.
Labor Efficiency – Maintaining excellent customer service
standards requires planning and effective logistics. Daily and
weekly planning incorporates numerous operational elements such as
engaging lobby visitors and responding to phone callers. Daily
customer service spreadsheets were developed to track and analyze
workflow processes, making sure to identify all tasks performed by
each individual, establish benchmarks for completing these tasks in
a timely and efficient manner and continual monitoring to refine
and improve processes and procedures. Through this exercise, siloed
functions were eliminated, and cross-training opportunities were
utilized.
Outreach programming – As Rick Singh often says, "To
serve a community, you must know a community." To accomplish this,
OCPA organizes, hosts and participates in a variety of
community-based events throughout the year aimed at connecting to
the tax payers of Orange County in
a meaningful, educational way. These events include senior
outreach, the signature State of Orange County Real Estate event,
community festivals, and more. In addition, representatives bring
OCPA to Orange County residents
with mobile Satellite Offices, which allow residents to interact
with OCPA staff in a more convenient location.
Compliance Initiatives – In addition to the
responsibility of administering all exemption applications and
determining eligibility, Customer Service and Exemptions staff
audits all records to ensure compliance with Florida law. Using a customer-focused
approach, filers are allowed to initially keep the exemption
they're entitled to rather than automatically removing it due to
compliance triggers, which can cause confusion or financial
hardship. Utilizing in-house investigative tools and field visits,
exemption compliance efforts, including agricultural
classifications and Tangible Personal Property audits, have – as of
mid-2019 – returned a collective $1
Billion in value to the tax base since Property Appraiser
Rick Singh took office in 2013.
About OCPA
The Orange County Property Appraiser's
office (OCPA) provides a fair and equitable tax roll, remarkable
service and superior professionalism. The office also assists
taxpayers with applying for homestead and other exemptions as well
as understanding their Truth-In-Millage (TRIM) Notices and Tax
Bills each year. Under Rick Singh's
leadership, OCPA has returned more than $1
Billion in value to the tax roll through compliance
initiatives. An award-winning agency, OCPA was recognized in 2018
by the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) with
its prestigious "Certificate of Excellence in Assessment," earned
by less than 1% of assessment authorities. The Agency has also been
honored by the Center for Digital Government with a 2018 "Digital
Government Experience" Award citing its effective online strategies
for meeting constituent needs. For more information, visit
www.ocpafl.org.
About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in
seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie
Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business
Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards
for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer
Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000
entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations.
Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind
them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the
workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at
http://www.StevieAwards.com.
Contact: Beth Watson
Email: bwatson@ocpafl.org
Phone: 407.446.1936
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SOURCE Orange County Property Appraiser's Office, FL