Oregon Agencies Streamline Civic Services With Accela

SAN RAMON, CA--(Marketwired - Nov 18, 2013) - Accela, Inc., the leading provider of civic engagement solutions for government agencies, announced that three more Oregon cities and counties have joined the growing base of government agencies leveraging the Civic Platform to move key civic services online:

• The City of Tigard's permit process is now digital, streamlining an important part of the construction and development process;
• The City of Albany recently decided to upgrade to Accela Automation from 'PERMITS' Plus; and
• Clackamas County is now live with Accela Automation and Accela Citizen Access.

Other state and local agencies -- including Corvallis, Springfield and the State of Oregon's Building Codes Bureau -- have already deployed Accela solutions to streamline civic processes for land and asset management.

The Civic Platform provides governments with a complete solution for citizen engagement. The platform provides powerful cloud and mobile technologies that facilitate productivity for government workers and allow citizens to engage with their agencies 24/7. Today, agencies can deploy complete capabilities to streamline and manage core processes and to improve community services related to land management, licensing, asset management, and public health and safety.

"In addition to being the engine behind BuildingPermits.Oregon.gov, the nation's first statewide, electronic building permits system, we're excited to see more cities and counties across Oregon move to the Accela Civic Platform," said Maury Blackman, Accela President and CEO. "By moving civic processes online, these government agencies will be able to speed the construction and development process, save money and provide better customer service to citizens, contractors and business owners."

Tigard is located 10 miles southwest of Portland and has a population of 46,300 residents. Now, licensed contractors can use Accela Citizen Access to submit permit applications and schedule inspections online, anytime. These include electrical, mechanical and plumbing improvements for residential and commercial projects that do not require a plan review. Tigard's permit center has issued more than 2,600 permits so far this year, totaling $112M in combined project value. Typically, 30 percent of the building permit applications were submitted via fax or email. Before moving to an online system, processing paper permits cost more than $20,000 annually. By leveraging an online solution, the City of Tigard saves money and frees up customer service staff to help walk-in customers.