City approves GFFR fees for noncompliance with fire code
Updated Jan. 19
Last summer, Great Falls Fire Rescue told the City Commission that a change was needed to the fee structure for repeated fire code violations.
During their Jan. 18 meeting, commissioners considered and approved a proposed change to add a fee for continued violations of the fire code. The meeting included a public hearing on the proposed changes. There was no public comment on the proposed fees.
Under the previous structure, GFFR receives funds from the issuance and renewal of safety inspection certificates, or SICs.
Under city code, every business in a building or office in the city is required to get a SIC, which is renewed annually.
GFFR inspects about 3,000 businesses annually, according to the staff report.
When GFFR finds code violations, they work with the businesses to correct the violations and give a reasonable amount of time to do so, which averages 30 days, according to staff.
City adjusts collection process for delinquent safety inspection certificate fees
GFFR then schedules reinspections and in most cases, the violations have been corrected on or before that, but some don’t address the issue, requiring multiple visits from GFFR, according to staff.
Under the former process, after GFFR has made multiple reinspections with no progress toward correcting the violations, staff will refer the matter to the city attorney’s office for enforcement under city code, which is a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to six months in jail, a fine up to $500 or both.
From the date of the first notification of the fire code violation/violations, the process to correct the fire code violation/violations could take six months or more, according to staff.
GFFR isn’t reimbursed and no charges are applied for their staff time for multiple reinspections under the current structure.
City staff proposing changes to several sections of city code
In June 2021, staff proposed to commissioners the following fee structure for fire inspections:
- first inspection covered by the cost of the issuance or renewal of the SIC;
- first reinspection covered by the cost of the issuance or renewal of the SIC;
- second reinspection is a $200 fee charged by GFFR;
- third reinspection is a $300 fee charged by GFFR;
- fourth reinspection, if the fire code violation is not corrected, the matter is referred to the city attorney’s office for prosecution under the current code.
According to GFFR staff, the fees will help offset the cost of staff time for the reinspections and increase code compliance.
