ACTION REQUESTED:
Title
Communication from the City Manager and Community Development Director with a Request to ADOPT an ORDINANCE Amending Chapter 5 of the CODE of the City of Peoria Relating to REGISTRATION OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY and INSPECTION OF DWELLINGS.
Body
BACKGROUND: Staff recommends making multiple changes to the non-owner-occupied registration and inspection of dwelling ordinance.
The first change is based on a recommendation from a group of landlords who have been meeting with City staff and elected officials over the last year to improve City processes related to rental property. The group suggested requiring registration of newly purchased property at the time of the real estate closing. They feel that this would improve the registration process and bring more properties into compliance with the ordinance. The current ordinance requires registration within thirty days of acquisition.
The second change is related to the disproportionally high late fee assessed to owners who fail to register in a timely manner. Prior to last year, the base registration fee was $150 and the late fee was $100. Property owners who attended the annual training session qualified for a discounted rate of $75 per property. Property owners who failed to register their properties in a timely manner were not eligible for the discount regardless of whether they attended the training session.
In 2018, the registration fee was reduced to $75 per property for property owners who met various requirements including not having any outstanding fines, fees, or taxes owed to the City and not being convicted of criminal housing management. A large majority of property owners did qualify for the $75 per property rate. The late penalty was never adjusted to align with the new registration rate. Staff recommends reducing the late fee for properties qualifying for the $75 per property registration fee from $100 to $50.
The final change relates to the requirement of submitting the self-inspection form annually to the City of Peoria at the time of registering a non-owner-occupied property. When the requirement was put in place, staff had planned to transition into a process that would allow for the forms to be submitted electronically. Staff worked with the Innovation Team in early 2019 to try to accomplish this. However, the cost to create an electronic submittal of the self-inspection form was roughly $60,000. Staff had only budgeted $30,000 for the software. In addition, the software solution did not automatically integrate into the City of Peoria’s software so it would have required a significant amount of staff time on the back end of the process. The software was never purchased. As part of the 2020/2021 City Budget Process, these funds were eliminated from the Community Development Department. As such, collecting the forms and scanning them into the computer system and attaching them to the property registration is inefficient and time-intensive. City staff recommends returning to the previous requirement that the forms are required to be completed by the landlord and tenants and available upon the request of City staff. Landlords and tenants will still be required to complete the forms; however, they do not need to be turned in annually to the City of Peoria, just provided when issues arise.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS: Quality housing is important for everyone in the City of Peoria.
IMPACT IF APPROVED: Processes will be changed to reflect the new ordinance requirements.
IMPACT IF DENIED: The current process will stay in place.
ALTERNATIVES: na
EEO CERTIFICATION NUMBER: na
WHICH OF THE GOALS IDENTIFIED IN THE COUNCIL’S 2017 - 2032 STRATEGIC PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION ADVANCE?
1. Beautiful Peoria
2. Grow Peoria
3. Safe Peoria
WHICH CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S) FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION IMPLEMENT?
1. Reinvest in neighborhoods.
2. Have an efficient government.
3. Keep taxes and fees competitive.
DEPARTMENT: Community Development