How One Municipality Replaced Paper Permits and Saved Time

Alyssa Seguss knew she needed help, and Cloudpermit’s building permitting software gave her the help she needed to keep up with community development.

The City of Genoa, Illinois, implemented the software in late 2024, also adopting Cloudpermit’s software for code enforcement and licensing.

But Seguss, Genoa’s City Administrator, said she realized she needed to get the most out of Cloudpermit in late 2025 when a staff member left the department — and she started overseeing building permitting and inspections in addition to her other duties.

I just took a leap in not filling the position and was hoping that I could depend on Cloudpermit to kind of take away a lot of the workload, and it did pay off,” she said.

The Challenge

Genoa’s building processes were entirely paper-based before selecting Cloudpermit’s online platform for local governments, but paper applications were still being accepted even after the transition began.

Staff were scheduling contractors’ inspections from time to time, leaving things in “limbo” for several months. It was normal to spend as much as an hour each day just scheduling inspections and reviewing and entering information from paper forms.

During this transition period, Seguss’ predecessor kept a separate spreadsheet for the building inspector’s schedule, emailing each inspection and fielding numerous phone calls from citizens and contractors who needed to get on the schedule.

It just takes so long to get through a call scheduling an inspection or you may even play phone tag,” she said. “And then you’re doing that, especially in the summer, so many times a day — it’s so inefficient.”

It was also inefficient for the inspector and confusing for applicants, who might not realize inspections were only available three days a week or have an easy way of requesting one.

The Solution

Things changed when Seguss took on management of building permitting in Genoa. The city started to close out existing paper permits while requiring online submission of new applications.

Using Cloudpermit’s online building permitting software, she was able to streamline the process and greatly improve efficiency.

By not filling the position vacated in late 2025, Seguss said the city was forced to utilize Cloudpermit to its full extent to save time.

Now, it has essentially replaced quite a bit of workload,” she said.

Digital inspections gave staff powerful new tools to schedule and manage this ongoing work, replacing paper forms and inefficient processes with seamless online functionality and shared information. Applicants can only schedule inspections on days when the inspector is available, preventing confusion and keeping everything on track.

The Result

Overall, applicants have found the new digital process to be “user-friendly” and more accessible when they need a permit.

Seguss said this digital shift has transformed permitting, with citizens and contractors now able to submit information when it works for them rather than trying to meet limited office hours.

We’re only open 8:30 to 5, Monday through Friday, and there’s a lot of people that can’t be here during that time,” she said. “Before, you would have to pick up the permit placard from us to go in the window, and it was just super inconvenient.”

Now, applicants can pick up permits and complete applications at their own convenience, so development can keep moving without delays.

Information is current and readily accessible for Genoa’s different staff members and departments, giving the municipality a better way to keep up with changes and maintain an accurate record of decisions.

Now, we don’t coordinate outside of Cloudpermit,” Seguss said. “Everything’s documented in there, so that’s really helpful.”

Lessons Learned

Looking back on things now, Seguss said it’s clear that Cloudpermit has become an essential tool for Genoa’s community development staff.

The only regret is I wish we were here a little bit sooner,” she said.

By embracing the technology and going all-in on the digital transformation, Seguss said the city has made permitting more efficient, streamlined inspections, reduced administrative work, and improved the experience for citizens.

If she were doing it over again, she said she would plan a clear timeline for implementing a digital permitting process to communicate changes and help staff and applicants know what to do. Dedicating time to configuring workflows to meet local needs would also be beneficial, she said.

When Genoa fully committed to these changes and Seguss worked to make the most out of the software, she said it more than paid off by helping everything move more efficiently.

Cloudpermit: The Right Software for Modern Municipalities

Seguss admits she wasn’t sure initially if she could handle overseeing building activity in addition to her duties as Genoa’s City Administrator — but Cloudpermit’s software made it possible.

I was pretty nervous based on the permit volume, and I cannot imagine doing all this without Cloudpermit,” she said. “The filing and scanning and phone-calling, I cannot imagine having to do that plus my normal workload, but at this point, I’m feeling pretty confident now.”

Municipalities across the United States have improved their community development processes and modernized how they work with Cloudpermit’s software.