About BernCo
Bernalillo County (BernCo) is the government agency responsible for setting property values across Albuquerque and surrounding areas. Every year, BernCo must fairly and accurately assess a growing number of real estate parcels while controlling costs and meeting deadlines.
To meet this challenge, leaders identified three strategic goals:
- Do more with less – Increase efficiency without expanding budgets or staff.
- Empower residents with self-service tools – Reduce wait times and make property data easily accessible.
- Elevate employee roles – Shift staff from routine call-center tasks to being trusted advisors who help residents navigate complex property issues.
Challenge
Before deploying CustomGPT.ai on their website, calls and walk‑ins about routine tax questions overwhelmed the BernCo team. Hiring more staff was not an option, yet residents still expected instant answers—day or night. On top of that, many tax‑relief applications arrived incomplete, forcing time‑consuming follow‑ups. Additionally, without a reliable way to track outcomes, the team struggled to prove impact and savings.
“CustomGPT.ai has continually impressed us. Our own assessor loves it and frequently comments on how it provides the right answers. It’s a very valuable tool that people need to understand and utilize.”
Kenneth Scott
Deputy Assessor of Operations, BernCo
Solution
BernCo selected CustomGPT.ai because it met their three strategic goals, without heavy IT lift, lengthy procurement, or additional headcount. The platform’s no-code, secure, and policy-compliant design meant Assessor Technician Aaron Newe and the BernCo team could go live quickly while staying fully aligned with county regulations and public transparency requirements.
Start Small: In phase one, the A.C.E. Community Educator chatbot launched on the county’s busiest web pages, instantly delivering policy-accurate, 24/7 answers drawn directly from BernCo’s own documentation and public records
Grow Fast: With CustomGPT.ai’s multi-agent architecture, BernCo rapidly built and deployed new specialized assistants in the following weeks:
- Compliance Expert for fast, reliable legal look-ups
- Clear Expectations Bot for onboarding new hires consistently
- Agricultural Valuation Assistant for guiding local farmers through specific tax processes
Go Everywhere: Leveraging Bland AI integration, the same knowledge base now answers phone calls and emails, taking on a growing share of total support interactions.
Keep Improving: Built-in analytics let the team review search trends and unanswered queries quarterly, ensuring prompt updates, closing knowledge gaps, and producing measurable service gains—no more questioning impact.
With CustomGPT.ai, BernCo now delivers faster, more consistent service across every channel while reducing repetitive workloads—proving that government agencies can do more with less and still raise the quality of resident support. These results have fueled positive press and reinforced BernCo’s “Know Your Value” brand.
Results
A lean team delivered measurable savings, faster service, and more capacity for complex cases—without adding headcount.
- Budget impact: $108,143.75 net savings; Cost avoided: $130,643.75 on $22,500 chatbot spend.
- ROI: Every $1 spent saved $4.81. 4.81× ROI (≈481%)
- Lower cost per interaction: Bot CPI $0.99 vs agent CPI $4.59 — interactions are ~80% cheaper.
- Service access & capacity: 114,836 total contacts; 24.76% handled digitally (28,433 queries). One in four contacts self-served, preserving human time for complex needs.
- Operational insight: Average handle time 116s; call success 35.91%. ~65,000 deviated calls (transfers/overflows) highlight routing/content opportunities.
- Seasonal resilience: ROI and savings peak during surges (e.g., notices, exemptions, appeals). Additional self-service traffic directly compounds savings.
Bottom line: Strong, verified cost avoidance in under two years; a durable capacity buffer today with clear upside as digital share grows beyond ~25%.
Conclusion
BernCo’s rapid AI journey proves that local governments can innovate fast—and serve residents better—on a tight budget. With CustomGPT.ai, the county now offers round‑the‑clock help, happier staff, and a blueprint for the next wave of AI‑powered public service.
