Some 15,000 calls a month into the state Department of Revenue’s call center are going unanswered, prompting agency officials to look at outsourcing the work to a private firm.
Revenue Assistant Secretary Jarrod Coniglio told the state Civil Service Commission on Wednesday that the agency would soon seek proposals to see if an outside vendor could answer the phones better.
Coniglio said the center averages 42,000 calls a month with 27,000 successfully answered.
“I have an average of 15,000 phones that go unanswered every month. If you are one of those taxpayers, you are angry,” Coniglio said.
“This is about improved service, to have more calls answered than we have now,” Coniglio said. “It’s an exploration to see if it can be done.”
But some of the 35 employees whose state jobs could be affected told commissioners that they need better equipment and said extended hours of operation would help.
“We possess the knowledge to do the job,” employee Marcia Richardson said. “Give us the better resources to do it” instead of turning the work over to a private firm.
“If you send out 40,000 bills to businesses that have not paid taxes in 10 years, what do you think is going to happen if you only have 65 phone lines going into an agency?” employee Kathy Williams asked.
Williams also said some taxpayers may not want outside people handling their private and confidential financial information.
The Civil Service Commission only heard testimony on the proposed outsourcing of work. Any privatization plan would come back to the commission for approval if revenue officials get an acceptable proposal from a private firm and decide to go that route.
The commission also heard an initial report from LSU officials on their intention to seek proposals for private operation of mail and printing services on the Baton Rouge campus as part of cost-cutting efforts.
Commission member John McClure, of Alexandria, said the revenue agency privatization plan is the first the commission has seen where the objective was not cost-saving.
“Usually, it’s we don’t have enough money and as a result elimination of state employees to do the work,” McClure said. “I have to wrap my head around this one.”
Source:http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/98479089.html
