Continuous Improvement

The City uses proven continuous improvement (C.I.) tools and methods to tackle process problems and engage staff in problem solving. Learn more by searching ‘continuous improvement’ at StJohns.ca

Continuous Improvement Success

Assessment is the process of establishing a market value of property for taxation purposes. Completing assessments on more than 50,000 residential properties is time-consuming and in previous years, staff had to work significant amounts of overtime to ensure property assessments were completed by the legislated deadline. The goal of this project was to improve the quality and consistency of the assessment roll, reduce rework, and reduce costly overtime. CASE STUDY ASSESSMENT PROCESS

C.I.

The Challenge

Completing the property assessment process within the tight legislated timelines while ensuring accuracy and uniformity within the assessment roll.

The Solution

The project involved a review of the residential reassessment process. Staff first mapped the processes currently being used by each assessor, known in the CI world as the ‘current state’. Then they identified where ‘waste’ in activities was occurring. This would include any defects in information or rework that was happening. Staff then looked at where they needed to be (known as the ‘future state’). Using these three pieces of analysis, standardized work processes were created to reduce time spent on reassessment, increase accuracy and thereby reduce the number of appeals.

How You Benefit

Overall, implementing this process has resulted in a reduction of overtime during the most recent residential reassessment. The core of the work was completed during regular work hours with limited overtime required. At this time, estimated overtime savings are approximately $60,000. Staff also identified fewer errors during the reassessment review which resulted in less rework, and the number of residential assessment appeals was notably reduced from the previous cycle. Learning from this project has been applied to the commercial reassessment process as well.

The City of St. John’s is committed to continuously looking at what we do and how we do it to ensure we are performing effectively and achieving results. Through continuous improvement, we are making our processes more efficient to deliver more value to our citizens.

Better, every day.