Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning & Development Services

 

TO:

 

David L. Corliss, City Manager

FROM:

 

Scott McCullough, Director

Brian Jimenez, Code Enforcement Officer

 

CC:

Cynthia Boecker, Assistant City Manager

Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager

 

Date:

February 13, 2009

 

RE:

Rental Expansion - Response to Vice-Mayor Chestnut’s Questions

 

 

This memo responds to Vice-Mayor Chestnut’s questions regarding the proposed expansion of the rental licensing and inspection program. 

 

  1. What enforcement have we done with a complaint-driven system?  There has not been any reporting on code enforcement to date in this area provided to the commission.  I would like to understand what has been done prior to changing the policy.

 

During the last 3 years staff has received 253 tenant-based complaints with follow-up inspections.  Staff’s research indicates that 113 (44%) of these inspections have been structures that appear to be 50 years old or older.   Staff’s current procedure of inspecting rental dwelling units as a result of a tenant complaint has remained consistent over time.  As a comparison, approximately 1,900 dwelling units participate in the licensing program currently.

 

  1. What information have we provided to renters in order to inform them of their rights?

 

Staff informs tenants who contact the Code Enforcement office with a complaint that the City has adopted the provisions of the International Property Maintenance Code which regulates minimum standards for the interior and exterior of a structure containing a dwelling unit.  In addition, staff informs the tenant that there are safeguards provided to them under the Kansas Landlord-Tenant Act that requires the landlord to provide the tenant with a code compliant dwelling unit.  Tenants are informed that any further landlord-tenant questions that are not within the division’s authority to answer or pursue can be submitted to the Housing and Credit Counseling office or to the University of Kansas Legal Aid Services office if the tenant is currently enrolled at the University. 

 

  1. Will any process change once violations are identified?  Unfortunately, we may find that identification of violation is not the primary issue.  It is compelling landlords to take action after that point.  I would like to know how many citations we still have outstanding that are not yet fully resolved.

 

The inspection process used for the current program will be used for the program expansion, if adopted.  Currently there are 5 tenant-based housing complaints that have not been brought into compliance with one case being forwarded to Municipal Court for prosecution.   Of the 1,900 licensed dwelling units participating in the current program, approximately 50 are not currently compliant.  This number fluctuates due to additional inspections and re-inspections.  As with all code enforcement cases, the goal is compliance; therefore; the court process is used as a last option.

 

  1. What will the budget impact be in 2009 and 2010?  Unfortunately, we must consider these items given our current fiscal challenges.  I know that staff has already stated this will not be cost neutral immediately due to the ramp up of staffing to support the expansion of inspections.  Proper training will be required before we can implement the program.  I am also concerned that this will never be cost neutral.  Fee schedules tend to stagnate as costs expand over time. 

 

The current program is not cost neutral; however, staff received direction from the Commission to present a scenario where the proposed expansion would be as close to cost neutral as possible.  In order to accomplish this, staff proposes to raise the annual regulatory license fee from $25 to $60.  This would amount to a monthly tenant increase, assuming the cost is passed on to the tenant, of approximately $3.00 from the current fee level and $5.00 for new units entering the program.  Information provided to the Commission in a separate memo analyzes the assumptions about fees and concludes that the fee would likely cost no more than 1% of assumed rental income for a typical rental unit.

 

The ordinance proposes to regulate dwelling units based on the age of the dwelling; therefore, each subsequent year would result in additional rental units being regulated by the ordinance and fee revenues would increase accordingly.  Staff has not fully analyzed the budget implications for future years and maintaining approximate cost neutrality would likely be discussion topics for future budget years.  Staff does believe that staffing levels would be able to hold constant for several years’ worth of adding units to the program.

 

  1. I am hopeful we will get input from all the stakeholders including neighborhoods, landlords, tenants and other groups in order to reach an informed decision on this matter.

 

Despite best efforts to gain input on the proposed ordinance amendments, the response has been relatively apathetic.  Staff has spoken with 16 citizens, 7 of which identified themselves as owners of rental property.  The majority of the comments received were positive and supported the expansion.  There were only a few landlords that voiced their opposition to the proposal.  Their main concern was that they currently did not comply with the occupancy limits of the code and questioned whether the program would require compliance.  It is anticipated there will be a significantly higher turnout at the City Commission meeting.

 

Staff directly reached out to the following list of stakeholders, neighborhoods, landlords, tenants and other citizens within the community in January seeking input.

 

·         News Release issued to media outlets

·         Release on department webpage

·         Kansan Newspaper

·         KU Student Senate

·         Haskell Indian Nations Student Senate

·         Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods

·         Lawrence Landlords presentation prior to holidays

·         Online public input

·         Two days of individual meetings

·         Open meeting held in City Commission chambers on January 15

·         Housing and Credit Counseling

·         University of Kansas Legal Aid Services

·         Lawrence Board of Realtors

·         Oread Neighborhood Association

·         Centennial Neighborhood Association

·         East Lawrence Neighborhood Association