Provo zoning administrator pushes civil fines to speed enforcement; council adopts reporting, not the fine schedule

Lede: Provo’s zoning administrator, Scott, told the City Council on March 25 that the city can and should use civil fines again as a targeted tool for repeat code violators, and said he has begun limited collections while staff work on an updated fine schedule.

Nut graf: Scott said the city historically favored criminal enforcement because fines were not reliably collectible. He reported that the city has since contracted collection services through finance and has restarted a civil fines pilot aimed at worst offenders; he proposed a simplified tiered schedule with escalating daily fines and no fixed cap for long-standing violations. Councilors asked for clearer offense categories and second- and third‑offense escalators; staff said a revised schedule will be drafted for review.

Body: Scott told the council he has retooled code‑enforcement operations since taking the zoning-administrator role, improved staff continuity and case tracking, introduced one-on-one staff meetings, begun earlier communications with complainants and started field-ready printing and body cameras to increase efficiency. He said property cleanups, rental‑license outreach and a new RFP for long‑term rental data matching are in progress.

Scott said one persistent challenge was the perception that civil fines are not collectible. Finance staff told the council the city now has a collections contract, which enables civil fines to be pursued. Scott said staff have begun a limited civil-fines pilot for uncooperative and repeat violators and reported two recent cases where the threat of daily fines prompted rapid compliance.

He proposed replacing the existing detailed table with a simpler stepped schedule: $100/day (days 1–30), $250/day (days 31–60) and $500/day thereafter, without a maximum. Council members and city attorneys discussed alternatives, including offense tiers or stiffer second- and third‑offense starting points. Legal staff said civil and criminal actions can be coordinated if they target distinct violations or different dates of violation.

Council action and process changes: Councilors also approved procedural changes proposed by staff: code-enforcement updates will not appear as monthly study‑session items any more. Instead, the council voted 7–0 to receive periodic “reimagining enforcement” updates in council sessions and to receive ADU‑enforcement reports by quarterly emailed summaries (motion passed 7–0). Scott will bring a drafted revised civil-fines table to the council for review and staff expect to continue piloting targeted fines where collection is likely.

Ending: Scott said he will return with a formal draft of the proposed fines schedule and that staff will continue the pilot and report back with enforcement outcomes and collections results.