Belgrade council weighs technology and budget options as code-enforcement staff drop by half

Belgrade city staff told the council at a workshop that the city’s code-enforcement capacity is effectively halved after one officer began serving as a county commissioner, and that staff are weighing technology and procedural options instead of hiring a short-term backfill.

City staff said the vacancy is significant: “there is a 50% right out of the gate reduction and our ability to have level of service through the remainder of the calendar year,” and noted Montana law requires the city to hold the position for 180 days for an appointee. Staff recommended not hiring a temporary replacement because required training would outlast the vacancy period.

Why it matters: code enforcement covers neighborhood standards, seasonal weed and snow obligations, and animal control — work that residents and the police say consumes large amounts of staff time. The police chief told the council that current systems create back-office burdens and unpaid revenue: “we're sitting in about 420 unpaid tickets, which is about... $30,000 that we haven't collected right now,” and that the department issues roughly 2,000 notices or infractions a year.

Officials outlined two technical paths to improve efficiency. Staff described a ticket-writing software option the council considered last year (estimated at $20,000–$25,000) that would integrate ticket entry with court and finance systems; staff emphasized the need to confirm vendors’ integration claims in writing. They also discussed outfitting an existing vehicle with license-plate-reader (LPR) cameras — a higher up-front cost (staff estimated roughly $30,000–$40,000) but potentially large time savings. In other jurisdictions, staff said, what once took “30 to 35 minutes” per infraction fell “to 90 seconds” with LPR systems.

Council members and staff also discussed shifting more minor code violations from the criminal to the civil side of city code so the city could retain more of fine revenue and speed enforcement. City staff cautioned that changes touching other departments (police or building inspection) could require discussion with the Teamsters union, which represents some affected employees.

Public comment: resident Michael Phillips asked where parking-fine revenue goes and suggested violators should help pay for services as the city grows: “Where does the money go that is from the citations?... If we gotta pay for services, let's make the violators pay for our services.” City staff replied that parking fine revenue flows into the general fund and currently totals about $30,000 a year — not enough to cover a code officer’s salary.

Next steps: staff said they will convene IT, police and finance to develop a scope of work for any procurement and will report back with cost estimates and contract language options.