May 23, 2008

 

 

One of the goals in the County’s Diversity Management Plan is to achieve 80 percent satisfaction among current and potential vendors. In addition, we seek satisfaction parity among vendor groups such as certified minority, women, or small business enterprise (MWSBE) businesses. The intent of these goals is ensure vendors interested in doing business with the County have equally high knowledge of, access to, and satisfaction with doing business with the County.

 

Recently, Lawrimore Communications, Inc. completed a study sponsored by the County Manager’s Office to identify the levels of awareness about and access to information, and the level of satisfaction businesses have with opportunities to contract with Mecklenburg County for construction, goods, and services. We are using data from the study to identify our current performance in vendor satisfaction and to gauge what improvements that may be needed to meet our vendor satisfaction goals.
 
The study conducted telephone surveys and focus groups with current County vendors and non-vendors, with MWSBEs well represented in both categories. Companies were asked about their knowledge of how to seek business contracts with the County, and their satisfaction with business interactions with the County, including communication and vendor relations.

 

The findings reveal consistent levels of awareness and knowledge among all businesses, with MWSBEs tending to have higher levels of knowledge of County business opportunities than non-MWSBEs, including current vendors who are non-MWSBEs. The findings also reveal consistent levels of satisfaction among County vendors regarding their business interactions with the County, again with MWSBEs having slightly higher levels of satisfaction than other vendors.

 

Some non-vendors indicated a lack of awareness that the County purchases good or services they provide. In addition, some non-vendors revealed a lack of knowledge about the process to seek County business. Nearly one-third of all vendors said the County should more actively promote business opportunities and make it easier to find out how to apply for business.

 

Using the data from the survey, staff has created a Business Opportunity Satisfaction Index that will serve as our performance measure for vendor satisfaction. Using this index, the study indicates the County has achieved a 64% satisfaction rating with no statistical disparity in satisfaction among vendor groups. Because we have been unable to identify similar data from other jurisdictions to establish our target, we are using an arbitrary target of 80% satisfaction as our goal. Although the current 64% rating means that vendors are generally satisfied, setting our goal at 80% satisfaction means we have room for improvement. As a result, staff is developing various action steps based on the survey data. The greatest opportunity for improvement is enhancing our communications with current and potential vendors. This could include exploring ways to maximize our current vendor management system software to match potential vendors with vendor opportunities. We also will conduct similar studies bi-annually to track our performance and identify additional improvement opportunities.

 

For more information, or to obtain a copy of the full report (available by the end of June), please contact Clayton Voignier, at 704 432-4274 or by email.

 

 

The Mecklenburg County Tax Assessor's Office is sending out change in assessment letters for 28,000 properties in Mecklenburg County. Customers could receive them as early as Saturday, May 24. This mailing is an annual event in the North Carolina tax year and therefore not part of the larger revaluation process slated for next fiscal year. Many of the properties are new, while others have undergone some change from the last assessment that affects tax value as of January 1, 2008. The letters are generated from our real property appraisal system, and provide the following: abbreviated property information; new market value; and a short description of the reason for the change. Examples of changes would be subdivisions of property, new construction or renovations, and review board adjustments.

 

The remainder of the letter is a form the taxpayer can use to file an appeal of the assessment, if they believe the property is valued incorrectly.