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Six Cities Launching New Code Enforcement Program

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Contacts:
Miranda Pomiecko, (216) 698-2546; mpomiecko@cuyahogacounty.us 


Driving Collaboration Among Regional Partners

Cuyahoga County, OH – Cuyahoga County continues its regional efforts to assist cities improve their housing for residents. The county's Board of Control approved a $200,000 grant for the First Suburbs Consortium Regionalized Code Enforcement Pilot Program. The program is a regionalized online permitting and code enforcement initiative designed to streamline municipalities’ code enforcement information while promoting increased staff efficiency, regional collaboration, cost savings, and better customer service. The six participating communities include: Cleveland Heights, Lakewood, Parma, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, and University Heights.

“We are committed to expanding shared services to build capacity and support effectiveness of regional partners,” stated Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish. “As the six pilot communities transition into this new system together, they will be able to share their best practices and benefit from learning how others in our region are using this system to its full potential.”

At a time when the demands on code enforcement departments are at their highest, improved systems will provide municipal code enforcement departments with a tool that improves their ability to track, monitor, and identify the needs in their communities.

“Transitioning to this cloud-based platform will help our building and engineering departments become more efficient by automating our workflow and processes,” said City of Parma Mayor Tim DeGeeter. “It’ll also provide even better, cost-effective service to residents and businesses whether from home through their smartphones, tablets, and computers – or at City Hall.”

The new system will also reduce time needed to complete tasks related to code enforcement data entries. In addition, contractors will be able to register with multiple cities at once, and residents will be able to apply for permits and register rental properties online, improving their customer experience.

“Being able to have a web-based code enforcement and permit data system is a game changer. Many functions that now require a time-intensive manual process will be automated,” stated Georgine Welo, Mayor of the City of South Euclid. “With multiple cities using one platform, the groundwork is in place for more collaboration and sharing of services down the road. This is regional collaboration at its best!”

Additionally, municipal staff will no longer need to produce monthly permit reports to the county’s Appraisal Department, these reports can be shared electronically in near real-time eliminating lengthy municipal and county staff data entry and input.

“Ideally, we would have more communities join this effort,” stated Jennifer Kuzma, Executive Director of First Suburbs Consortium. “By aligning technology across municipal lines, we would build a strong foundation for other potential regional permitting and code enforcement opportunities in the future.”

It is estimated that cost savings in the six pilot communities could total nearly $400,000 annually through the reduction of office supply and postage costs, reduction and potential elimination of overtime staffing costs and other related personnel costs.


  
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