Improvements in Service
Property owners and municipal officials in the province are providing great feedback about the Department of Housing and Municipal Affairs improved service offerings. The department first started delivering annual re-assessments in January 1997.
"It appears from our survey results and anecdotal evidence from property owners that our mandate to improve services is being met," said John MacKay, executive director of the department's Assessment Services.
"In response to the needs of municipalities, and of business and residential property owners, we decided to go to an annual reassessment process to generate more accurate, up-to-date property values," said Mr. MacKay.
"We were the first province to do so. At the same time we introduced the proposed assessment notice to give property owners advanced notice of their assessment and provide them a window in which to discuss their proposed assessment without having to go through effort of filing an appeal."
He said, "With the proposed notice we established a toll-free Assessment Information Centre which has allowed us to efficiently manage more than 100,000 calls during peak assessment periods over the past three years."
The department conducts a telephone survey with people who called the Assessment Information Centre following both the proposed and formal assessment periods to determine whether these services are valuable and how the department could make additional improvements. Some of the results are highlighted below.
Summer '96 Jan '97 Summer '97 Jan '98 Summer '98
Notices 130,000 512,000 24,000 515,000 30,000 sent
Inquiries 14,000 32,000 16,000 15,000 14,000
Percentage 48% 68% 82% 82% 92% of calls managed by Info Line
Satisfied 58% 66% 70% 71% 65% with Info Line
Satisfied 62% 55% 63% 66% 63% with assessors client service
Courteousness 84% 74% 80% 88% 79%
Expertise 65% 41% 60% 70% 70% and knowledge
Ability 48% 50% 60% 67% 64% to answer questions
Response 49% 70% 81% 77% 61% time
By asking demographic questions about respondents, the department is able to determine if there are demographic-specific issues it needs to address.
For example, following the 1997 formal assessment notice release, the department noted that satisfaction levels among seniors were slightly lower than other demographic groups and that more than 40 per cent of the callers to the Assessment Information Centre were over 55.
"Knowing this we were able to adjust our communications to seniors to be more appropriate for their needs. This included a training module for the Assessment Information Centre's operators and assessors, as well as a communications manual for all staff in Assessment Services," explained Mr. MacKay.
In addition to the feedback it receives from property owners regarding the improved assessment process, municipalities report they are more satisfied as a result of better information being delivered in a timely fashion. Staff also feel more confident and fulfilled with their jobs.
"We are pleased with our progress over the past few years and will continue to poll our customers' to ensure we respond to their needs and provide information to help them understand the assessment process," said Mr. MacKay.