Mission Statement

The mission of the Office of Public Information (PIO) is to provide timely, accurate, and effective communication with the public. PIO works with the County Executive, departments and agencies, media, County employees, the County Council and other elected officials, businesses, civic groups, and every other segment of the Montgomery County community. PIO provides information through the mass media, social media, internet, presentations, publications and graphics, cable television programming, and telephone and electronic requests for information and assistance via the MC311 Customer Service Center.

Budget Overview

The total approved FY21 Operating Budget for the Office of Public Information is $5,464,768, an increase of $95,456 or 1.78 percent from the FY20 Approved Budget of $5,369,312. Personnel Costs comprise 96.46 percent of the budget for 70 full-time position(s) and one part-time position(s), and a total of 52.70 FTEs. Total FTEs may include seasonal or temporary positions and may also reflect workforce charged to or from other departments or funds. Operating Expenses account for the remaining 3.54 percent of the FY21 budget.

County Priority Outcomes

While this program area supports all eight of the County Result Areas, the following is emphasized:

• Effective, Sustainable Government

Program Performance Measures

Performance measures for this department are included below (where applicable), with multi-program measures displayed at the front of this section and program-specific measures shown with the relevant program. The FY20 estimates reflect funding based on the FY20 approved budget. The FY21 and FY22 figures are performance targets based on the FY21 approved budget and funding for comparable service levels in FY22.

Initiatives

• Expansion of Quality Assurance efforts including more customer surveys to assess satisfaction levels and to increase customer feedback, and holding focus groups throughout the County to elicit input from the community regarding MC311 service, all of which contribute to customer-centric process improvements.

Innovations and Productivity Improvements

• Departmental process improvements include working with departments on how to better handle service requests. Current collaborations include review of two departments utilizing Tier II Customer Service Representatives. Intake processes are being reviewed, and opportunities are being sought to improve customer experience by putting callers in contact with department specialists immediately, decreasing response times for many inquiries that require the expertise of department staff.
• MC311 call abandon rate improvement from 9.37 percent in FY19 to 2.10 percent in FY20 to date.
  
• Average speed to answer improvement from 75.2 seconds in January 2019 to 23.9 seconds by January 2020.
  

• Web based service requests increased by 15.02 percent in FY19 over FY18.

• Integration of Siebel CRM with DOT's SNOWIQ application for more timely and accurate reporting of service request status after snow storms.
  

Program Descriptions

  Public Relations

Under this program, the Office of Public Information: Educates and informs residents about County issues, programs, and services through press releases, media advisories, news, public events, the County website, e-mail and online newsletters, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Works directly with media organizations to ensure that reporters and editors...

  Web Content and Graphic Management

The four major functions of this program include: Providing creative and technical support to Public Relations, Cable Programming, MC311, and to departments. Developing and overseeing the County's graphic identity program to ensure consistency in the County's printed communication for the public. The program develops printing guidelines for...

  MC311 Customer Service Center

MC311 is a key strategic, enterprise-wide initiative that provides the public with a single three-digit number (311) to call for County information and service. In addition, it provides the County with a sophisticated ability to count, track, and respond to resident requests. MC311 provides the general public with...