Achieving Compliance: Process Changes and Code Revisions

1. Achieving Compliance: Process Changes and Code Revisions

2. Presentation Outline • Why Provide Code Compliance Services • Best Practices • Tigard’s Code Compliance • Local Code Comparisons • Administrative Code Options • Council Feedback & Discussion

3. Why Provide Code Compliance Services • Create and maintain a safe and attractive community • Establish and maintain community standards • Educate and inform • Bring violations into compliance

4. Best Practices • Match program to approach • Make it a multi-departmental effort • Training staff is critical • Consistent application of code

5. Clarify Purpose & Approach • Compliance/Enforcement • Reactive/Proactive • Prevention/Deterrence/Punishment • Education • Priorities and Desired Outcomes

6. Different Approaches Livability • Community Development • Reactive • Administrative Remedies • Facilitate Compliance Enforcement • Police • Proactive • Judicial Remedies • Punitive Penalties

7. Tigard’s History & Practices • Livability Approach • Past Practices • Intake via phone, email, counter visit, letters • Site visits to verify violation/compliance • Significant personal contact with complainant and violator • Summons to Court only enforcement “stick” • Compliance rate nearly 100% when pursued • Limited resources required some case selection/prioritization

8. How Cases Were Addressed 8

9. Resource History

10. Operations After Reductions • Transfer portion of case management to the public • Online intake started in July 2010 • System automatically opens cases in permit software; stores information on case • Spread compliance among staff with other primary assignments • Compliance priority lowered

11. Pulling a Team Together • Nuisance Case Processor • 0.2 FTE funded in fall budget adjustment • Development Code Violations • Assigned to Current Planning staff • Additional staff resources from Development Services-Planning and Building Divisions respond to Tree Code and Housing Code violations as needed • Management oversight

12. Strategies • Increase Efficiencies • Reduce case handling • Limit contact time • Use form letters • Compliance “as best we can”

13. How Cases Were Addressed 13

14. How Cases Are Addressed Now

15. Local Comparisons

16. Similarities • Selective focus based on budget, community priorities & program structure • Customization of activities or program • Economic downturn has reduced services • Cities seek to increase efficiencies • Code & program revisions, reassign duties • Increasing use of web

17. Major Differences • Organizational placement • Program Structure • Community’s Priorities

18. Comparison of Code Compliance in Nine Oregon Cities

19. Expanding Options • Administrative Abatement • Provides additional carrot & stick • Administrative Warrant • Expedient & saves resources • Administrative Lien • Could adapt to existing finance lien process • Administrative Fees • Recuperate partial administrative costs

20. How Abatement Helps

21. Administrative Fees • Duplicate judicial fine approach (discretionary; per violation; daily application) • Administrative overhead fee (discretionary; abatement cases; cases requiring significant staff time to resolve) • Flat fee (non-discretionary; per violation; applied periodically and for repeating same violation within specified time)

22. Seeking Council Direction • Should TMC be amended to add administrative remedies - abatement, warrants, and liens? • Should TMC be amended to add administrative fees? • If so, which options – daily/per violation, overhead/cost recovery, flat fee – should be included; at what levels and frequency?