What’s on the minds of local government staff as we start the New Year? Streamlining processes, dealing with budget cuts, and issuing permits faster are all at the top of the list for 2025.
The Cloudpermit team recently polled our social media followers about top priorities, challenges, and areas of increase for the year ahead. Here’s what they had to say about the 2025 local government outlook and what they want to do to improve services.
Top Priorities for 2025
Streamlining processes was far and away the biggest priority for 2025 among our poll respondents. More than half chose streamlining as their top priority, followed by 29% who said reducing administrative workload was the most important and 14% who prioritized increasing transparency.
Half of the poll respondents expect permitting and licensing to increase the most in their communities this year, while 34% think planning and zoning will grow the most in 2025. Two other poll choices — public works, and enforcement and fire inspections — got 8% of votes each.
Budget cuts topped the poll about the biggest challenges in communities this year with 49% of votes. The remaining half of the votes were split evenly among government employee shortages, community development, and new regulations.
This Year’s Goals for Improvement
A local government outlook for the year ahead also needs to examine staff members’ hopes and goals for improving the way they serve citizens and get their work done.
When asked about technological advancements they were most interested in adopting, 40% picked permitting and inspection tools, and another 40% chose short-term rental software. About 20% said they wanted to adopt technology for work order management.
Our poll also touched on the community services they most wanted to improve in 2025. Nearly half of the poll respondents said they wanted to issue permits faster, while 22% of voters chose ease of use for citizens, and another 22% picked inspection management. About 12% said they wanted to improve violation tracking.
How Software Can Help Local Governments in 2025
The need to streamline and speed up how departments work and respond to citizen requests highlights the importance of using modern, comprehensive tools for managing community development. The right online software can help local governments centralize data, improve efficiency, and more quickly allow builders to get to work on important projects.
Meeting the challenges of 2025 will require wise, informed decisions to meet growing demand for services while operating within a fixed budget. At Cloudpermit, we continue working year-round to add even more products and features to our comprehensive online platform of community development software. We’ve helped hundreds of local governments speed up permitting, licensing, enforcement management, and planning.
Learn more today about what our software can do for your local government by booking a demo with us.
