Mission Statement

The mission of the Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) is to enforce consumer protection laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive business acts or practices to ensure a fair marketplace for consumers and businesses. Activities include complaint resolution, business registration, law enforcement, education, legislation, advocacy, and outreach to vulnerable consumers.

Budget Overview

The total approved FY25 Operating Budget for the Office of Consumer Protection is $2,839,549, an increase of $272,755 or 10.63 percent from the FY24 Approved Budget of $2,566,794. Personnel Costs comprise 95.42 percent of the budget for 19 full-time position(s) and no part-time position(s), and a total of 18.00 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 4.58 percent of the FY25 budget.

County Priority Outcomes

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

• Thriving Youth and Families
• A Growing Economy
• Effective, Sustainable Government

Program Performance Measures

Performance measures for this department are included below (where applicable). The FY24 estimates reflect funding based on the FY24 approved budget. The FY25 and FY26 figures are performance targets based on the FY25 approved budget and funding for comparable service levels in FY26.

Innovations and Productivity Improvements

• In FY25, the Office of Consumer Protection plans to improve its process for submitting consumer complaints by enhancing its customer relationship management (CRM) system. The current system, CALMS, developed in 2017, serves as the cornerstone for customer interactions, facilitating the submission of complaints and the processing of registration or licensing documents. Despite its benefits, users have encountered challenges due to its complex interface and stringent time constraints for form submissions, which detract from the overall user experience. Recognizing these issues, OCP conducted a thorough assessment and plans to refine the CRM and user interface by integrating solutions like SeamlessDocs and SharePoint to streamline and enrich the user experience.

Program Descriptions

  Consumer Protection

The Consumer Protection program is a law enforcement function established in 1971 responsible for enforcing consumer protection laws to prohibit unfair and deceptive business acts to ensure fairness and integrity in the marketplace for consumers and businesses. The program is responsible for receiving, investigating, and resolving complaints, educating consumers...