Reducing Wait Times at the Department of Excise and Licenses

We are so proud of the Excise and Licenses team and the great work they have done. To this end, we are thankful to have had the opportunity to produce the above video with the help of the Open Media Foundation.

In 2014, the Department of Excise and Licenses had a problem. The average wait time to be seen at the front counter was 35 minutes, yet due to peaks in demand wait times could sometimes surge to a painful eight hours. Guided by the leadership of Stacie Loucks (Director of the Department of Excise and Licenses), and in partnership with the Peak Academy, the Excise and Licenses team started looking more closely at their metrics, brainstormed ideas of how things could change, and implemented creative solutions that started redeeming time throughout the entire department. From simply utilizing electronic spreadsheets instead of physical binders to providing customers with pre-made packets, the city was able to save around $85,000 in hard and soft dollars. Additionally, by the end of 2015 wait times had been reduced from 35 minutes to less than 5 minutes – an 85% reduction! By reducing this wait time the city is saving more than $250,000 dollars’ worth of the customers’ time. As Stacie would say, “There’s no greater gift that we can give the city than their time back.”