Improving Service Across Generations
Organization Profile
- Industry: Municipality
- Location: Madison County, Illinois
- Number of Employees: About 80
- Population: About 13,000
- Tyler Client Since: 2008
- Tyler Products Used: ERP Pro, Municipal Justice, Enterprise Permitting & Licensing, Notify, Content Manager
Home to a population of about 13,000, people of all generations are drawn to the charm of Glen Carbon, Illinois. With a healthy commercial industry, easy access to St. Louis, and a Division I college campus just down the road, it is consistently named one of the “Best Places to Live in the St. Louis Area.”
Village leaders are committed to living up to that honor — starting with the service they provide to their citizens and the technology that helps support their operations.
Importance of Efficiency
Like many small-town governments nationwide, Glen Carbon’s village hall is bustling with activity. From finance to accounts payable to payroll, it’s where village staff maintain business and ensure citizens’ needs are met.
“We have a very centralized government,” Finance Director Scott Borror said. “Outside of our internal operations, this is where we accept utility payments, provide building and zoning services, and process permit applications. It’s one-stop shopping for the public as well.”
According to the U.S. Census Survey of Public Employment and Payroll, the average number of government employees per 10,000 residents in Illinois is 205. Sitting well below that average at fewer than 80 employees, productivity is key to Glen Carbon’s success. To support its centralized operations, the village relies on a suite of integrated software solutions from Tyler Technologies designed to bridge local government silos and enhance efficiency.
“In a small municipality, the ability to add staff is almost non-existent,” Borror said. “One of the biggest gains that comes from the software is it frees staff time and allows them to work in other areas.”
With greater efficiency, staff can re-focus attention on citizen service and interaction — something of utmost importance in an area as generationally diverse as Glen Carbon.
Service Across Generations
From baby boomers to young professionals and Generation Z, the demographics of the village citizens can vary greatly, and so do their needs. To respond to changing demands, Glen Carbon has consistently adopted technology as it becomes available, such as Tyler’s Utility Access to enable citizens to pay their bills wherever they are 24/7/365, and Notify to keep residents informed of past-due payments, shutoff notifications, and other important information.
Today, whether it’s a citizen that’s more technologically savvy or someone that prefers an in-person interaction at village hall, there’s something for everyone that calls Glen Carbon home — thanks, in part, to their ERP Pro software.
“Citizen demands have always been a focal point of local government,” Borror said. “It’s important to look for a product that you’re confident will help you interact with the public and your customers both at the current moment and in the future.”
After all, Borror said, needs are always shifting. It’s important to be prepared for the unexpected. Something the village of Glen Carbon became all too familiar with in March 2020.
One of the things that stands out about ERP Pro is how government-centric it is. It provides tools to cover any task or responsibility that local government has. It creates a more cohesive approach toward managing local government.
Scott Borror
Director of Finance
Navigating Crisis
When COVID-19 forced closures across Illinois and the world, residents had to find new ways to interact with their local government.
“We have a healthy portion of customers who like to come into village hall to make payments for the social aspect if nothing else,” Borror said. “With facilities closing, we had to push them toward other platforms. Luckily, with our software, we had the tools in place to keep collection efforts going.”
To encourage use of electronic payment and customer service options, village officials made the decision to absorb the fees for online payments and make online forms available for service requests, permit applications, and more. Despite past resistance, Borror said he was pleasantly surprised at citizens’ adoption of alternative payment options.
“I’m really encouraged by the willingness of older generations to communicate electronically,” he said. “That may have been a big leap in the past, but I have no doubt that, after going through this experience, it’s going to be a successful endeavor in the future.”
Going forward, Borror said there’s more the village of Glen Carbon can do to improve efficiency. And, in Tyler, they have a software vendor that’s able to continuously evolve to meet the needs of their staff and citizens no matter what lies ahead.