CS-09-147 - Supporting Statement

Customer Satisfaction Survey
Implementation Plan
Indian Tribal Governments

Compliance and Program Management Staff
March 19, 2009

Table of Contents
Table of Contents……………………………………………………….………… 1
Introduction…………………………………………………………..………….. 2
Methodology ……………………………………………………………………….3
Security, Disclosure, Anonymity………….………………………………………. 5
Burden……………………………………………………………………………. 5
Costs……………………………………………………………………………… 6
Appendix - Customer Satisfaction Survey Materials…………………………….... 7

1

INTRODUCTION
Background/Overview
As part of the IRS, the Office of Indian Tribal Governments (ITG) is required to
implement balanced measures for employee satisfaction, business results, and customer
satisfaction. The use of measures across these three areas allows the organization to
better assess the effectiveness of its programs. This Implementation Plan outlines the
tasks, expenses, and actions needed to administer a Customer Satisfaction Survey of
federally recognized Indian Tribal Governments. This survey is essentially identical to
surveys conducted each fiscal year beginning in FY 2003. The results from the survey
will enable ITG to continue to identify program areas where we are meeting our
customers’ expectations, as well as those areas where improvement is needed. The
survey feedback will allow ITG to reallocate/assign resources within our annual Work
Plan to produce and/or improve those products/ services that are important to our
customers.
The Office of Indian Tribal Governments (ITG) is located within the Tax Exempt/
Government Entities (TE/GE) division. The Office of ITG seeks to provide all of the
services that each federally recognized tribal government needs in order to fully
administer federal tax laws, and provide tribes with information they require to further
their economic development without risk of federal tax concerns. The Office of ITG
needs to conduct a survey of all federally recognized tribal governments to help us
evaluate their satisfaction with the products and services we provide. The information
collected from this survey is important for several reasons.
One, the information will allow us to measure the level of customer satisfaction
espoused by our customers, and contrast current results with those obtained from
similar surveys completed in FY 2003 through FY 2008. This is crucial to measuring our
performance within the context of the “Customer Satisfaction” balanced measure. This
balanced measure is one of the “five levers of change” identified in recent years to
modernize the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Each of the Balanced Measures is
supported by three strategic goals: Service to Each Taxpayer; Service to All Taxpayers;
and Productivity through a Quality Work Environment.
Two, the information will allow us measure changes in customer satisfaction from one
year to the next. It will be contrasted to the results from similar surveys completed in
FY 2003 through FY 2008. These annual assessments will create opportunities for us to
identify areas where our customers are not pleased with our performance. This will
allow ITG to modify and/or design new programs and initiatives to better address our
customers’ needs.
Our research began in April 2001, when a group of our employees met in a
brainstorming session to develop a list of products and services that we thought were
important to the tribal governments. We broke the list down to find the positive
aspects and negative attributes of each product/service and created measures. The
measures were then ranked in terms of the perceived importance to the tribes. Next,

2

we met with representatives of the Five Civilized tribes for a focus group to determine
their needs and concerns.1 After studying the results of the focus group we changed the
ranking of our measures, as our perception of the tribes’ needs was slightly different
from their perception.
As part of this effort, we prioritized and selected the measures best suited to fit the
needs of our customers. The aforementioned measures were then used to develop a
customer satisfaction questionnaire. A copy of the FY 2009 questionnaire is included in
the Appendix.
Objective of Data Collection
ITG is looking to obtain feedback from our customers that will allow ITG to measure
customer satisfaction with our products and services.
METHODOLOGY
We propose to employ the exact methodology utilized in the surveys undertaken in FY
2003 through FY 2008. There are 562 federally recognized Indian tribes, and the entire
population will be included in our survey. Given the relatively small population, it is not
practical to use a sample for the survey, since to achieve an acceptable level of
confidence we would be required to survey nearly 400 of the 562 tribes anyway. There
are no other known surveys or data collection efforts that exist which address federal
tax administration issues for Indian tribes.
ITG possesses the expertise to administer the survey on its own, and has so
demonstrated that in the prior surveys. Therefore, we propose to utilize ITG staff to
complete all necessary administration tasks. Those resources are principally present in
the ITG office in Buffalo, New York, but will be supported with staff resources located
in Washington, D.C. Statistical processing software will be utilized (SPSS) to scientifically
analyze the response data. All survey administration costs are outlined on page 6.
In order to effectively administer the survey, ITG must complete the following tasks:
Prior to sending out the survey
‰ Update ITG database of contact persons for each tribe
‰ Finalize the survey cover letter to ensure accuracy based on the date of mailing
Administering the survey
‰ Advertise the survey effort to raise awareness and seek support
‰ Send a letter from the Director, Office Of Indian Tribal Governments to each
tribal government alerting them to the survey and inviting their participation (see
copy of letter in Appendix)
‰ Mail out the survey with a cover letter
1

The Five Civilized tribes are located in Oklahoma.

3

‰
‰
‰
‰
‰
‰

Mail out a reminder notice
Follow-up telephone calls
Receive surveys
Data entry for all responses
Analyze survey data
Writing a final report that 1) summarizes significant (important) findings with
recommendations for products/services where additional resource expenditures
are needed to improve customer satisfaction, and 2) provides a summary of
significant (important) findings that were evidenced in differences across market
segments.2

Based on response rates achieved in the FY 2003 through FY 2008 surveys, we
anticipate an overall response rate of 50%. However, in the event that the response
rate is less than 50%, the IRS will assume that all data collected from this survey is
qualitative in nature, and that no critical decisions will be made solely from the
analysis of data from this survey. The results from this survey are simply one piece
of a larger set of information needed to assess tribal needs related to services
provided by the IRS.
The results of the survey will be utilized to direct resources to better meeting the
needs of ITG customers in achieving compliance with federal tax administration
requirements that impacts federally-recognized Indian tribal governments.
Survey/Data Collection Dates
Action Item
Implementation Plan
OMB Approval
Administer Survey
Analyze responses
Final Report

2

Completion Date
March 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009

ITG has identified three distinct market segments among tribes.

4

SECURITY, DISCLOSURE, ANONYMITY
All survey data will be anonymous. The cover letter will emphasize the anonymous
nature of the questionnaire, and no identifying information will be collected. The
responses will be stored in a locked container at the IRS offices in Buffalo, New York,
and will not be made available to anyone other than those who conduct the analysis, or
those in an oversight role.
BURDEN HOURS
The total estimated taxpayer burden for this study is approximately 58 hours, assuming
a 50 % nonresponse rate, a 40% response rate by mail, and a 10% response rate by
follow-up telephone contacts. These figures are used only for estimating the amount of
time it will take our customers to participate in the survey. Each tribe is expected to
take approximately 10 minutes to complete the mail questionnaire and approximately
12 minutes to complete the phone questionnaires, as detailed below:
562 respondents
x.50 nonresponse rate
281 individuals
x 2 minutes to review survey request
562 minutes of burden
(Burden Estimate continued)
562respondents
x.40 response rate
225 individuals
x 10 minutes to complete mail survey
2,250 minutes of burden
562 respondents
X.10 response rate
56 individuals
x 12 minutes to complete telephone survey
672 minutes of burden
Total burden = 562 + 2,250 + 672 = 3,484 minutes or 58 hours

5

COSTS3
Task

Expense
calculation

Sub-total

Draft survey, pretest, finalize survey

Part of Balanced
Measures
Part of Balanced
Measures

(excluded)

Office space, equipment costs, etc.

(excluded)

Advertising costs
Pre-survey alert letter
Survey w/ cover letter--postage
Follow-up letter
Printing Costs

562 X .44
562 X .44
562 X .44
562 X 4 x.10

$1,000
$247
$247
$247
$225

GS-7 training survey administration
GS-7 mail advance letter
GS-7 mail survey
GS-7 follow up mailing
GS-7 data entry
GS-7 follow-up phone calls

8 hours X $18
16 hours X $18
16 hours X $18
16 hours X $18
16 hours X $18
24 hours X $18

$144
$288
$288
$288
$288
$432

GS-14 data analysis
GS-14 written summary
GS-14 implementation plan/training/OMB
approval

24 hours X $44
16 hours X $44
60 hours X $44

$1056
$704
$2,640

Travel Costs

$750

Total

$8,844

3

All hourly cost figures use actual salary costs for employees who will perform the tasks, inflated 25% for
benefits.

6