The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday approved the mid-year budget, and it included several attention-grabbing allocations: $15.7 million to help people experiencing homelessness; $8 million to invest in programming for under-served neighborhoods.
But the budget also contained an important commitment that could fly under the radar: $11.2 million to enhance dozens of fundamental City services.
One of these services is 311. Managers at the division had requested additional staffing during peak hours to improve the speed and volume of calls handled.
311 conducted an analysis in 2018 that determined the “average handle time,” or AHT, for a call was three minutes and 21 seconds. (AHT is defined as the amount of time it takes to complete one call from start to finish, including hold time.)
With an additional six employees, 311 determined that it would be able to decrease wait time for calls and meet its goal of answering “80 percent of calls within 60 seconds.”
“People count on 311 to handle all municipal service requests other than Police and Fire,” said 311 Manager Ivan Castellanos. “The additional staff approved in the budget now allows us to answer more calls, and to do so faster than ever.”
Other City projects covered by the $11.2 million include increased maintenance for parks, libraries and recreational facilities and improved service regarding illegal-dumping and abandoned-vehicle enforcement.