Nearly Two Decades Strong: Anniston, AL Code Enforcement on Comcate Partnership
Tana Bryant has been with the City of Anniston, Alabama’s code enforcement department for 18 years. Frustrated with the inefficiencies of managing case work with paper files, Bryant pushed to modernize operations with a software solution. The department landed on Comcate’s Code Enforcement Manager in 2008 – and 17 years later the relationship is still going strong.
“We get people all the time that want us to purchase these other inspection programs,” said Bryant, Senior Code Enforcement Officer. “We’ve looked at several of them. We’ve done demos and test runs with several, but they’re not what we’re looking for.”
We sat down recently with Bryant to talk about code enforcement in Anniston and see what keeps the department with Comcate after nearly two decades.
Easy to Use
Managing cases via pen and paper was time-consuming for Anniston. Organizing images to go with paper case files was also a major pain. “It takes time labeling them all in your computer,” said Bryant. “Then it comes time to put them in a file, you can’t remember exactly when you were at a property, and you’re wasting time digging through stuff. Now we just drag it right into Comcate. It’s there when you pull up the case, and it’s got the date. That saves a lot of time.”
Opening a case, uploading images, and generating letters of violation are all tasks that Comcate has simplified for Anniston, helping this two-officer team to manage their average of 400 cases a year more efficiently.
“It's easy to pull up the letters, easy to download pictures,” said Bryant.” For people who aren't computer friendly, it's very easy to get this information in and get those letters generated and not be wasting a whole lot of time. It takes me just a couple minutes to enter a case into Comate, whereas if I was doing it by paper and file folder, you’ve got to sit and write everything down. You’ve got to make sure your writing's neat enough in case it ever does go to court. Comcate is very neat. It's very well put together in the reporting. I can get a whole lot more done entering it into Comate than by hand.”
Access to Information
Moving case information from a paper-based filing system to a centralized, cloud-based system has made information more readily available and organized.
“What Comcate does help with is I don't have stacks of files,” said Bryant. “I don't have lots of loose papers everywhere, because I can just take those pictures and put them straight into Comcate. I'm not printing them out. I'm not going through file folders.”
The ability to easily pull up historical information has been helpful in particular for managing repeat offenders. And with GIS integration, Comcate is also able to automatically populate parcel and contact info “so we're not having to go back and forth between the county site and the program.”
Abatement Management
Anniston’s team manages a fair number of forced abatements every year. “If a case progresses into a nuisance abatement, we've got the ability to send out our hearing notice letters from Comcate,” Bryant said. “Our cost recovery sheets are also in Comcate, which makes it a whole lot easier. Just the other day I recorded a bunch of liens for the county to add on to the property taxes. All I have to do is fill in numbers, double check that the property description is the actual one that matches the county’s, then save and send those on.”
Centralized case management also makes it easier to prepare for court. Comcate has an option to print an overview of the entire case, including notes, images and pertinent dates. “If I'm taking a case to court, the printed reports are easy to follow along and the pictures are already attached, so the prosecutor has no problems when they're looking over it.”
Cross-Department Information Sharing
Whenever the code team inspects a property and deems it an unsafe or dangerous structure, they generate a report to share with Anniston’s dispatch. This report provides safety information to any officers or firefighters who might have to enter the property, as well as identifies unsecured properties that are potential targets for vagrants. “Dispatch holds onto a list, that way they can tell firefighters or first responders ‘Watch out, there’s a big hole inside the front door. Step to the left.’ So it helps out other departments within the city as well.”
Transparency with City Leadership
Comcate’s reporting features also help Bryant with periodic reports to the city manager’s office, such as the number of houses demolished or how many unsafe structures were turned over to the police and fire departments. The department’s admin person also has access to the software specifically to look up cases and inform the city manager’s office whenever they have a question about an open case.
A Long-Term Partnership
Prudent agencies are always on the lookout for what will serve their needs best. Over the years the department has made other changes to be mindful of resources and efficiency. To that end, Anniston has looked at other software solutions and even seriously considered switching at one point.
“There was one we were going to go with,” Bryant said. “But we had to do so much work and then the letters were not coming out right. I tried to show them, here's a letter from the program I use now. I want it to look like this. They couldn't do it. So I said, ‘No, your letters don't look professional. We're just not going to do it. I'm not going to use it.’ So we didn’t, and we’ve stayed with Comcate.”
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