Media Release

RELEASE: Friday 12 August

Outstanding owners pay rego online – it’s easy

More than 85% of people who completed Gisborne District Council’s Dogs Online survey said it was easy to pay dog registrations through the website and they would use it again next year.

558 people completed the survey after using the online payment system. Renee Beardsley, Sue Logan and Maureen Shann were drawn as the winners of three $100 prizes for giving their feedback.

The survey asked users how easy it was to pay their dog registrations online, how much time it took and if they had suggestions for how the site could be improved.

One respondent said “No improvement needed. I am 67, self-taught on the computer, and if I can do it anyone can, thank you.”

Although there were also respondents who said they had difficulties with the system, finding codes or the right information, and in some cases details were missing and they had to go in to pay at customer services.

Customer engagement manager Anita Reedy-Holthausen says staff are currently taking a good look at the feedback and are committed to fixing these issues.

“We’ll certainly be making adjustments to the site and information to make it run more smoothly for users in the future.”

Dogs Online has proved to be easy and saved time for owners but only 40% of owners chose to use the online system opting instead to pay over the counter.

“We saw lines out the door the day before registrations were due (31 July),” says Ms Reedy-Holthausen.

“So we’ll be offering incentives to get more people using online, to roll out for registrations next year.”

Council currently offers lower fees to dog owners that apply to become a selected owner and a $20 discount for all registrations paid before 31 July.

“We’re also looking at what other services people wanted the ability to pay for online, the most popular so far are paying parking tickets, rates and camping permits.”

Dog registration data shows there are currently 11,627 dogs living in the district with 70.5% of those registered this year.

“There’s still around 3000 dogs that haven’t been registered,” says enforcement manager Jim Single.

“So we encourage those owners to go online or get in touch with customer services as soon as they can to arrange payment and avoid any fines.”

“We also need to know if you’re dog has passed away or if ownership has changed too, so we can keep records up to date.”

ENDS

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