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Customer‑service survey shows staffing strain and more callers requesting payment arrangements, staff says
Summary
Department of Public Utilities staff summarized results of the Jan.–June transactional survey, reporting that long‑term residents make up most respondents, a rise in payment arrangements calls and ongoing staffing vacancies in customer care; staff said a new representative is scheduled to start soon.
Kathy (staff member) briefed the board Aug. 6 on the Department of Public Utilities' transactional survey covering January through June. She said the survey continues to skew toward long‑term residents: 55 percent of respondents reported living in county homes more than 20 years, and most respondents are owners rather than renters.
Kathy said about 77 percent of the recorded interactions during the period were with customer‑care staff (the department sends survey requests by text to customers who contact customer care), and that the top reason for calls — and survey submissions — shifted toward payment arrangements. She said payment‑arrangement requests were about double the rate seen in the comparable first‑half period in 2024.
Staff cautioned that the survey has a roughly 7.7 percent margin of error. Kathy said customer‑care staffing has been thin since March, at one of five positions in the front counter for a period, and that two long‑tenured employees recently left. She said existing staff are carrying higher workloads and that interviews are ongoing for replacements. Kathy said a candidate had accepted in one round but later declined; another candidate is scheduled to start soon (staff reported a tentative start on Aug. 18). The department is also planning interviews for its vacant business operations manager role.
Why it matters: an elevated number of calls about payment arrangements and a thin customer‑care bench can affect turnaround times and customer satisfaction. The board asked staff to continue reporting hiring progress and to ensure written public comments and customer feedback are captured in the meeting record.
Ending Kathy said the department will continue recruiting for customer‑care vacancies and expects to have a clearer picture of staffing in the coming weeks. She also noted staff will continue to track and report payment‑arrangement trends and other transactional metrics to the board.
