Newton residents can report potholes, missed trash collection, broken streetlights, and other non-emergency concerns through the City’s updated Newton 311 platform, which includes a mobile app that allows users to submit requests with photos and exact locations.
The updated platform launched in May 2024 after the City switched vendors, according to 311 Customer Service Manager Garrett Ross.
“We used that opportunity to reevaluate who could provide the services that we needed best,” Ross said.
Ross described Newton 311 as “a communication tool that allows residents and visitors to share their concerns with the City.”
Residents can submit through the Newton 311 mobile app, the City’s website, by phone, email, or in person at City Hall. Requests submitted through the app can include photographs and GPS locations, allowing City staff to more easily identify and respond to reported issues.
Mayor Marc Laredo said customer service is one of the City’s most important responsibilities and that every interaction residents have with City Hall shapes their trust in local government. He said the City’s customer service staff, Citizen Assistance Officer, and 311 system serve as the “front doors” to City Hall, helping residents navigate services, answer questions, and solve problems. Laredo added that the City is continuing to modernize the platform to make it easier to use, more transparent, and better able to provide faster updates to residents.
According to Newton resident Annette Nedeljkovic, the 311 system “makes people feel better,” because it gives residents the ability to report issues.
“You feel like somebody is listening to your concerns,” she said.
As of July 13, customer service satisfaction results report that in 2026, 41 percent of responses indicated that the City’s response exceeded expectations, 30 percent met expectations, 26 percent were below expectations, and the remaining three percent provided no response, according to Ross.
He added that the 311 system organizes requests based on topic and sends them to the correct department to be addressed. This year, as of July 13 the City has received a total of 19,755 requests, with about 70 percent of them representing missed trash collection, yard waste, or special collections.
According to Nedeljkovic, she has reported issues such as icy sidewalks in the winter and hazardous debris left on the sidewalk due to car accidents.
Response times for requests vary. “We are working through some issues that are a couple of years old,” Ross said. However, he added that excluding outlier cases due to back-logs – many of which were caused by delays during the Covid-19 Pandemic – the average response time for a 311 request is approximately two weeks.
Nedeljkovic added that she believes that the 311 system has addressed her concerns within “a reasonable amount of time.”
The Newton 311 app is available for download on mobile devices (Apple App Store, Google Play).
Shonali Sen is a rising senior at Newton North High School, co-Editor-in-Chief of The Newtonite, and a Fig City News student intern.