Case Study: Mecklenburg County

Case Study

Mecklenburg County in North Carolina (population: 1,068,000) serves as a model of how governments can use POSSE to continually enhance their business processes, using it as a long-term enterprise software solution.

“POSSE is a backbone of our department, and a real workhorse. I never had to worry whether the system would be able to do its job. Likewise, Computronix was always willing to work stride-for-stride with us on new projects and ideas.”

Jim Bartl
Director Emeritus
Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement

The Customer

Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement is the largest code enforcement authority between New York City and Houston, with a jurisdiction that includes the city of Charlotte and six surrounding towns. The department employs 245 full-time staff, including 126 inspectors that cover a 545 square mile territory. The county considers itself to be a “continuous improvement operation” – they constantly work to plan and prepare for the future, as well as position themselves at the cutting edge of government technology solutions. One example of this is their award-winning Meck-SI paperless special inspections process and website, which was the first of its kind in the country.

“The county was impressed with POSSE’s ability to adapt to our very specific and complex business requirements, as well as how well the software could manage the volume of permits and inspections we deal with.”

Jim Bartl
Director Emeritus
Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement

The Project

Computronix and Mecklenburg started their partnership in 2002, when the county first chose to implement POSSE. The county’s new permitting and inspections system was brought online in 2003. Bartl has determined that by using various innovative technology solutions and strategies, Mecklenburg County has been able to save 81.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, a total of $8-9 million in cost savings per year. Many of those solutions have used or been supported by POSSE. The FTE-saving programs, which were designed jointly by customers and Code Enforcement, include:

Contractor Pass Rate Incentives

Introduced a new set of requirements for developers that drove pass rates up from 55% to 80+%, meaning that fewer inspectors were required, ultimately saving 52 FTEs.

Architectural/Engineering (A/E) Pass Rate Incentives

Grading A/E’s according to their performance drove pass rates up from <50% to 73%, requiring less reviewers and saving 14 FTEs.

Trades Internet Permits

The Trades Internet Permit tool is designed to make taking out a permit as easy as buying an item online. Currently it manages 32%+ of the permit workload (~29,000/year), saving four FTEs that would be permit writers.

Special Inspections

The Meck-SI solution automates the special inspection process, reducing paper usage and saving 11.5 inspector FTEs.

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“I feel valued as a customer, and the needs of our division are addressed honestly and effectively.”

Sandra Broome-Edwards
IT Manager

The Results

Annual Savings (est.)

$ 0 M

Inspection Pass Rates

0 %+

Architectural & Engineering Pass Rates

0 %

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