Adams most constituent-friendly county with doe licenses "Fur, Feathers & Fins" - Aug. 10, 2013 ADAMS MOST CONSTITUENT-FRIENDLY COUNTY FOR DOE LICENSES By B.J. SMALL Gettysburg Times To standardize the process of filling doe license applications in Pennsylvania, deer management czars could incorporate the best practices by counties in southcentral Pennsylvania, starting with Adams County – as key ingredients. This isn’t a call to overhaul how county treasurers distribute 839,000 antlerless deer permits. Wildlife managers have far bigger priorities. Also, the system isn’t broken. Treasurers act as agents for the Pa. Game Commission and receive one dollar for every antlerless deer license application they receive, review, and fill for hunters within the commonwealth’s 23 wildlife management units. As much as 90 percent of applications treasurers see are for WMUs within their vicinity, but they receive and fill request from most WMUs. License availability opened July 8 and on Monday, Aug. 5, hunters could apply for a second, unsold doe license. They go for $6.70, payable by check in the traditional pink envelope; return postage required. Because of staffing and expense, the commission couldn’t handle the process on its own. Sportsmen wouldn’t prefer that anyway. The commission would operate under the letter of the law, a multitude of applications would become dead letters, and the level of customer service would not be there to resolve issues. It’s a recipe for a lot of irate hunters. In checking on doe license availability in the waning days of supply this week, I found that different treasurers have different approaches. As of yesterday, 250,000 licenses were unsold and 12 WMUs, including those in this area, had sold out. Like keeping tabs on a fluctuating stock market, treasurer staffs closely monitor the running doe license totals on the commission website, so they don’t waste time fiddling with applications for WMUs that are already filled. During periods of peak applications, treasurers augment their staffs with one or two seasonal employees. By far, the most constituent-oriented service is rendered by Adams County Treasurer Theresa Adamik and her staff of four full-time and two seasonal workers. The crush of requests will soften for the Gettysburg office now that WMUs 5A and others nearby are sold out. WMU5B (Lancaster County) is down to 8,000. That is, until the rest of the commonwealth gets wind of how hunter-friendly Adamik’s staff is, and hunters send applications for other WMUs through her. Hunters’ best chance for a hassle-free license, is through Adamik’s office. Sorry, Ms. Treasurer! Adamik and her staff again this year, went to great lengths to fill requests that were wrong. Wildlife Conservation Officer Larry Haynes used to make personal visits to local hunters to resolve issues before resigning their applications to the dead letter file. When he retired, Haynes’ influence stayed with the local treasurer. “Carl Roe (before he became PGC executive director) encouraged customer service and said he thought hunters would appreciate it,” Adamik says of her philosophy to go the extra mile. No license, no deer hunting. Hunters who screw up the application process, get different degrees of help from area treasurers. Hunters can always check on the status of their application at the section on the Game Commission website where they buy licenses. Treasurers spend a lot of time fixing problems that originate at big box stores like Wal-Mart and K-Mart that sell basic hunting licenses. “They have such turnover. They can’t keep their people trained all the time, and they are open 24 hours,” Adamik says. “They can’t put names in correctly. It is an issue,” adds John Gross, treasurer in Cumberland County. When incorrect names, addresses, zip codes and other miscues pop up during the doe application review, treasurers call the automated system (PALS) that records licenses, to get the corrections made. Otherwise it can result in a person getting more than one license. John Gross explains his office’s strategy of limited outreach, saying Game Commission guidelines forbid treasurers from contacting applicants. Yet, Franklin County Treasurer David Secor notes that the application asks for a phone number. “Why,” Secor wonders, “would (the commission) do that unless they wanted to get in touch with applicants.” His office has processed 10,000 applications so far. Someone from Adamik’s office calls for most suspected errors. Her staff got in touch with a hunter this week, thinking he’d accidentally transposed his WMU preferences. He hadn’t. Adamik figures that, instead of waiting for the consequences of applicants going to her office and accusing them of wrongdoing, and digging out the paperwork to prove otherwise, it’s better to make contact in advance and make the correction. Add marriage counselor to the job description. “We refer to it as ‘The Wife’ syndrome,” Adamik says of applicant excuses. “Everything is, ‘The wife didn’t do this or that.’ I had a lady last year call and she was crying over the phone because she screwed up the application and said, ‘I don’t want them not to be able to hunt because I put the wrong information down. I know I did it wrong’.” Adamik’s staff fixed the problem. Treasurer Craig Ebersole’s staff in Lancaster County will call a hunter if it’s a “really, really simple,” mistake. Cumberland County returns a form letter to hunters citing the mistake and fix. Adams County is the only office that deals with applications that lack return postage. Adamik’s staff calls the applicant and suggests they bring a stamp to the office. In other counties, applications without a return stamp go into the dead letter file until or unless the hunter contacts that treasurer. Lancaster County put 20 last week into the dead letter file for lack of stamps. “Certain things (hunters) have to do, to step up,” Treasurer Ebersole reasons. As for the bottom line: the Franklin and Cumberland county treasurers say their processes are breaking even on expenses. Lancaster County makes 20 to 25 cents on every license, thanks in part to a slitter that opens five envelopes per second. Serving the sixth most-populated county in the state, Ebersole says investing in the machine pays of in an office that has processed over 20,000 doe applications so far. Last year they did 29,000. The slitter also comes in handy for selling 44,000 dog licenses so far this year and collecting 107,000 parcels at real estate tax time. Adamik’s focus on service has the process in Adams County operating in the red. Her office processed over 9,700 applications. It comes down to the price hunters put on avoiding the hassle of not realizing until it’s too late that they forgot to put a stamp on an envelope or made another mistake on the application, and the disappointment of not getting a license. Ebersole, in Lancaster County, says he’s amazed at how many bounced checks for $6.70 he’s gotten. Standardizing return of licenses to lucky hunters would save treasurers some grief. Most, like Franklin County, hold licenses until checks clear and then put them in return mail. Lancaster sends them out in waves of 1,000. Adams County does one bulk mailing in September. Sporadic delivery creates chatter and anxiety among hopeful hunters, even though they can check online to verify they will be getting one. Treasurer Adamik thinks she might be doing hunters a favor by holding the licenses until later. “You’d be surprised how many we replace because the wife threw it away,” she chides. Send your wild thoughts to bjsmall@gburgtimes.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 15:00:50 +0000