Tackling Investor-Owned Property Blight to Improve Small City’s Quality of Life

Hartford City, Indiana is an agricultural community of 6,000 eighty miles northeast of Indianapolis. In 2019, first-term Mayor Dan Eckstein ran on a platform of improving the City’s quality of life and revitalizing the City’s historic downtown. In 2020, Common Council member and Property Standards Board chair, Ron Dudelston, reached out to Comcate for help tackling property blight. Ron shares Hartford City’s Code Enforcement journey below.

Property Standards Board chair, Ron Dudelston tackles property blight in Hartford City, IN.

What problem were you hoping to solve with Code Enforcement software?

When I took over Property Standards in June of 2020, I saw an opportunity to tackle blighted properties in the community. Out-of-town investors were coming in, buying properties at tax sales, and then using the properties as tax write-offs. And then the neglected properties would become blighted. That's when I started researching vacant property registration ordinances (VPROs).

Blighted properties caused by out-of-town investors neglecting tax sale properties hamper revitalization efforts in Hartford City. (photo credit: the Hartford City News-Times)

What did you learn about vacant property registration ordinances?

When I started looking into VPROs I found out that Rushville, IN who's just down the road about an hour, was using them. So, the mayor, myself, the county zoning director, and one of the commissioners went down to Rushfield to spend the day with them to see how they implemented their VPRO.

I asked their deputy mayor, "How do you enforce this?" He answered that the VPRO was actually a last-ditch tactic. They'd only used it once and instead relied on a minimum property standards ordinance. And so, as we began to talk about that, I asked, "How do you track this?" He answered "Comcate" and then he let me see the system. At that point, I was hooked.

Here’s Hartford City’s Minimum Property Standards ordinance for folks to take a look at. If anyone wants to learn more they can feel free to contact me.

Download Hartford City’s Minimum Property Standards Ordinance for inspiration.

How is your Property Standards Board set up?

We have five voting members on the Property Standards Board. Myself, one county commissioner, and three others. There are also non-voting board members including a representative from our city attorney, the assistant police chief, and the Code Enforcement coordinator.

What process does the Property Standards Board follow?

If a complaint comes in, we'll create a case. And if it's an emergency, I'll contact the property owner myself. If it's not an emergency, then it goes before the Property Standards Board. During our meetings, we'll review cases in Comcate by projecting them onto our two 75" screens. Then the board will dictate what happens to that property. Most times there'll be a first letter, then a second letter, and then we can assess a fine. We're very gracious in that respect. That being said, we do have six cases in the courts right now.

What does success look like for Code Enforcement in Hartford City?

Ideally, we want to raise the City to a higher standard by cleaning it up. The one thing that we're finding, particularly with COVID and remote working, is it's all about the quality of life. People are asking, “What can you do for me in this town?” Before Comcate we mostly used paper files, Microsoft Excel, and post-it notes to keep track of cases. We were having trouble making headway because documenting cases consistently was a real challenge. At the end of the day, steady improvement is a success for me.

Downtown Hartford City, IN is anchored by the Blackford County courthouse and will be the focus of revitalization efforts.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen so far with Comcate?

Efficiency. The bottom line in government is you try to do as much as you can with what you have. Here's one example. Comcate frees up our Code Enforcement coordinator to do something other than rummaging through files. Before Comcate, she'd spend a couple of hours preparing files for the Property Standards Board meetings. Now I just plug my tablet in and we’re reviewing everything online on our big displays. You can buy more paper, but you can't buy more time.

What made Comcate’s Code Enforcement Manager software the right fit for Hartford City?

We looked at a competitor of yours and their software looked like kindergarten stuff. By comparison, you guys at Comcate are at the collegiate level. Right after I looked at your competitor's demo I knew that Comcate was a no-brainer. Frankly, the competition’s solution looked like an old Atari game. When I saw it I thought, "Oh no, no, no, no." And your pricing was a good value.

Code Enforcement Manager makes it easy for citizens to report issues and for staff to document cases and schedule follow inspections for faster compliance.

What advice do you have for cities looking to up their Code Enforcement game?

Don’t be reluctant to make the change because yeah, you can probably get by with Microsoft Word and post-it notes. 3M loves that. But the fact of the matter is you can't progress with post-it notes and Microsoft Word. It just won’t work. And some communities are going to look at this as, oh my gosh, I can't dump $5,000 -$10,000 into a software package. And my feeling is you can't NOT make the investment. The efficiency gains and quality of life improvements will far outweigh the investment.