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Council weighs phased electronic civil-citation program with 90-day education period; majority favor waiving small administrative fee
Summary
Code Compliance proposed a phased electronic civil-citation pilot: a 90-day red-tag education phase, a compliance assistance program, photo-remedy options, and tiered fines (residential: $25 first offense, reducible to $4 administrative fee; council signaled preference to eliminate the $4 fee). Key open questions include whether to start with an initial warning or begin enforcement at the first offense and whether inspectors or the hearing officer should review photo remedies.
City staff detailed a multi-phase plan to transition code enforcement from a criminal-abatement model to an electronic civil-citation system aimed at increasing compliance and reducing field rechecks.
"With our civil citation process we've been before council on a number of occasions to talk about what we feel is gonna be an outstanding tool for us to increase compliance, increase the culture of compliance within the city," said Bridal Morris, Director of Code Compliance, outlining a Phase 1 90-day red-tag education period and a compliance-assistance (CAP) program to help vulnerable residents. Under staff's proposal, Phase 2 enforcement would use per-violation tracking with a 12-month rolling window and tiered residential fines beginning at $25 for a first offense, escalations to $75 and $150 on subsequent violations, and higher initial amounts for commercial properties.
Staff proposed a photo-remedy pilot so residents can submit photos proving compliance; if verified, the first-offense fine could be reduced to a $4 administrative fee to cover processing costs. City Manager Mr. Betts urged council to consider reducing the $4 fee to zero and said, "If I could get 10,000 code compliances remedied for $40,000 that would be the best $40,000 the city ever spent." Several council members recommended eliminating the $4 charge and either keeping an initial electronic warning or moving straight to the first offense citation. Council members also debated whether code inspectors or the hearing officer should conduct initial photo reviews; staff generally preferred inspectors for accuracy and operational fit.
Council voiced strong support for prioritizing "quality-of-life" violations and emphasized oversight and training during the pilot. Staff set a target implementation timeline tied to vendor integration: a 90-day red-tag/education window beginning after ordinance adoption, with full electronic enforcement expected by about Sept. 1 if software integration proceeds on schedule. Council reached consensus to eliminate the small administrative fee; the council left other operational questions (inspector vs hearing-officer review and whether to require an initial warning) to staff to finalize; formal ordinance language will return for adoption.
