The Mayor and City Council yesterday introduced its new client administration software for more efficient management of client data, as part of the thrust to improve information management and communication among departments.
The initiative came out as one of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, whose Chairman, Keith Burrowes, presented its findings to the Council and to the Minister of Local Government last year.
The software will be able to create, based on input, reports of clients’ taxes owed, arrears, information from markers, businesses in various wards in the City and other critical information. The system is said to be secure and will be managed by the Council’s Management Information Systems (MIS) Department.
Speaking to members of the Council yesterday, Burrowes, who is also Chairman of the Implementation Committee for the implementation of the recommendations of the COI report, said that the software, made available to the Council at no cost, will enhance revenue collection through more reliable data.
“One issue that came up [in the COI Report] is that of information sharing,” he said. “There is no standard client base. We need to develop profiles of clientele,” he said, adding that depending on the nature of the clientele, there will be a different approach taken with a view to revenue collection.
Burrowes said although the Council has made certain improvements since the time that the report was handed in, it should not be expected that all of the woes of the City Council will be solved overnight.
He said the accuracy of the database will take a period of time to be regularized and noted that the integrity of the information presently in the database is questionable.
Burrowes said when the software system is up and running efficiently, the credibility of the information in the database will be improved significantly.
“We need to have a client manual,” he said, adding that there needs to be a scenario where the Council will be able to see what every client owes.
Burrowes reminded the City officials that a major part of the work of the Implementation Committee and the Council revolves around debt recovery. He said that he has tasked three or four professional persons to assist with getting the Council up to speed in terms of capacity in order to ensure more efficient debt recovery.
“We plan a training session dealing with the debt recovery for senior management,” Burrowes said.
On the recurring budgetary issues that the Council finds itself in, Burrowes said they cannot wait until a crisis situation arises before taking steps to alleviate it. He said that the Council must give early notice to service providers that there may be the impending possibility of not being able to meet obligations.
Pic: saved as ‘citysoftware’ in all photos in Graphics
Caption: Deputy Mayor Robert Williams (left) and Chairman of the Implementation Committee, Keith Burrowes, at the launching of the City’s new client information software.