How AI Plan Review Helps Local Government Do More with Less

Our customers and service delivery partners continually report the same imperative: do more with less. Government leaders and local authorities face mounting pressure to enhance service delivery, meet stricter time expectations, and serve growing constituent numbers — all while operating with constrained budgets and limited government employees.  

To meet the need for efficiency without expanding resources while future-proofing agencies for the years to come, municipalities are seeking out opportunities to integrate agentic AI into local government operations.  

As the Wall Street Journal reports, scaling AI for government can result in enormous benefits. For example, “In 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury started using AI tools to detect fraud in government payments, preventing or recovering $4 billion in improper payments.” 

Despite AI’s promise, it’s clear that government AI use cases require a different approach than private sector applications. Below we look more closely at intentional AI in local government to help agencies everywhere maximize resources.  

Manual Processes Limit Growth 

Community development agencies have faced increasing pressure for years now. As Benjamin Dunn, Director of Planning & Development at Polk County, put it: “We’re being tasked to do more with less, while expectations for transparency, speed, and service have never been higher.” 

Growing permit volumes, static budgets, rising citizen expectations, and increasing regulatory complexity all make for a perfect storm. Compounding these challenges is the fact that current government services rely on employees to manually validate processes, for example, ensuring that plan review and permitting applications are complete and correct upon submission. 

This first check is a necessary stopgap measure, especially as Avolve’s customers tell us that 20-30% of first-cycle plan submissions are returned to the applicant for basic errors, and each rejection triggers a resubmittal cycle that adds 1-3 days before substantive review begins. 

But for local government agencies already stretched thin, this translates to government employees spending valuable time on administrative rework instead of high-value decision-making and code compliance reviews.  

Issues with Manual Submission Checks  

• 20-30% of first-cycle plan submissions are returned for basic errors 

• Triggers a resubmittal cycle that adds 1-3 days before review begins 

How Avolve’s AI Plan Review Can Help 

Artificial intelligence represents the ultimate force multiplier for community development services, but only when implemented thoughtfully using agentic AI developments that are built to support human processes and automate key admin-heavy tasks.  

However, unlike generic AI-first tools rushed to market by startups, local governments need an intentional approach to AI agents that are purpose-designed for the plan review processes and grounded in decades of public sector expertise. 

Avolve’s AI plan review prioritizes human-decision design and measurable outcomes, delivering practical, secure, and explainable solutions built into proven plan review workflows. Our responsible AI initiatives enhance rather than replace human expertise, ensuring public trust in AI adoption. 

A Closer Look at AI-Driven Electronic Plan Review  

Unlike AI-first solutions or retrofitted business technology, Avolve’s AI plan review is rooted in deep knowledge of permitting workflows, compliance requirements, and reviewer challenges, making these solutions uniquely tailored for government operations. 

Our first agent, Avolve AI Submit, built on Microsoft’s OpenAI, provides real-time validation and acts as a front-gate check, utilizing advanced algorithms to:  

• Automatically extract and validate sheet references 

• Instantly detect missing scales  

• Immediately confirm file types 

This allows corrections to be made right away, so reviewers start with cleaner plans, projects move faster, and ROI is evident from day one. 

This is just the first step in our agentic AI roadmap. Avolve AI Submit will turn routine checks into intelligent assistance that reduces manual effort and improves efficiency. 

Use Avolve AI-Powered Plan Review to Do More with Less 

For local leaders and public sector agencies challenged to do more with less, AI-powered solutions aren’t just efficiency upgrades, but rather strategic necessities. Agentic AI technologies enable local governments to streamline service delivery without proportional staff increases, all the while redirecting human expertise to high-value public services. 

Ready to transform your operations? Learn more about Avolve’s AI-Powered plan review today.