Dallas

[cda]

Just as construction activity begins to rebound, a severe shortage of building inspectors is delaying projects in Dallas, according to a City Council briefing.

Dallas is now proposing to immediately hire more inspectors but also to raise permit fees.

The city reduced its inspection staff by 51 percent, but the workload only declined by about 9 percent, according to city records.

"If you want business to come to the city of Dallas, you've got to be friendly and you've got to make sure that you've got a staff to make sure they get a building permit," Councilman Tennell Atkins said.

"In October, I expressed, 'We need to have more staff, and we can't wait. The longer we wait, businesses go elsewhere,'" Atkins said.

Contractor Keller Webster said it took as much as six weeks to get a permit in the past, but the wait is even longer now.

"And in the city of Dallas, it's been running twice that and, in some cases, three times that amount," Webster said. "I was at the City Council meeting when they cut the budget, and I told them they made a mistake, so now I can say I told them so."

But Phil Crone of the Greater Dallas Homebuilders Association says it's not fair for the city to raise permit fees. He said he believes fee money was used in the past to pay for other services at City Hall.

"The fees that you pay need to be directly commensurate with the services that you receive from the city," Crone said. "We're not entirely convinced as we've delved into the budget here that that’s exactly going on."

The City Council briefing detailed the plan for increased fees in return for faster service.

"We started on this in September, and here we are in December," Councilman Ron Natinsky said. "We've got a solution to it that we’re ready to implement right now."

But Crone said he wants changes in the plan before the City Council considers it in January.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/around-town/real-estate/Dallas-Mulls-Permit-Fee-Hike-for-More-Building-Inspectors-111704014.html

 

[texasbo]

I've worked in two major jurisdictions (50K+/230K+ population, and 200M+/850M+ average annual construction valuation) in the DFW area since 1988, and we have had to hire staff numerous times to keep up with the volume of construction. In each and every situation, we have had full support from the development community to raise fees, provided we could provide the service they need. The key is the relationship you have with them. That is something that Dallas and some of the other jurisdictions in the area have never understood.

It's not a relationship you scramble to establish in the time of need, but the relationship you have maintained all along.

 

[Mule]

Texas law....

Not later than the 45th day after the date an application for a permit is submitted, the municipality must:

(1) grant or deny the permit;

(2) provide written notice to the applicant stating the reasons why the municipality has been unable to grant or deny the permit application; or

(3) reach a written agreement with the applicant providing for a deadline for granting or denying the permit.

© For a permit application for which notice is provided under Subsection (b)(2), the municipality must grant or deny the permit not later than the 30th day after the date the notice is received.

(d) If a municipality fails to grant or deny a permit application in the time required by Subsection © or by an agreement under Subsection (b)(3), the municipality:

(1) may not collect any permit fees associated with the application; and

(2) shall refund to the applicant any permit fees associated with the application that have been collected.

Looks like the City of Dallas may need to raise fees to make up for losing fees based on the time it takes to issue a permit.

 

[Big Willie]

Is this one of those "read-between-the-lines" topic, where Dallas may not be the

best place to be employed as an Inspector? You Central Texas folks would know...

 

[FM William Burns]

That's it...I'm moving to Austin

 

[texasbo]

Is this one of those "read-between-the-lines" topic, where Dallas may not be thebest place to be employed as an Inspector? You Central Texas folks would know...

I wouldn't necessarilly say that at all. It's just like any other really big jurisdiction; there are good staff/supervisors and there are bad. Politics isn't terrible there compared to some other large cities. However, customer service hasn't always seemed to be a huge priority with them.

 

[Mule]

In the past there was quite a bit of turnover in Dallas. Several inspectors did not keep their nose clean. I think they have cleaned up quite a bit from the past. I think the security would be as good as any other place since they are aware that they screwed up and let quite a few of them go! Expecially since they are going up on fees.

The cuts in the inspection departnt were based on budgetary problems but it wasn't the inspection departmentbudget. Their problem was the retirement system was going in the hole very quickly. There was abuse by a lot of the departments on overtime which resulted in the retirees getting a lot more retirement than what they really created the plan for. I think the retirement plan said something like they would take the highest three years and base the retiree benefit on those years. The troops figured out a way to cheat the system and work a LOT of overtime during the last years before retiring. This blasted the funds required by the city in the budget out of whack but the retirees would actually make more on retirement than what their annual salary was. Dallas has it's own retirement program with Dallas making it's own investments unlike the smaller cities that are in a State run retirement.

The inspection department is one of the first departments where cities think they can use less employees because politicians and city management are not aware of what all goes on in an inspection department and the "need" for their services. They don't know what we do and how important the inspection department is to the community.

 

[cda]

"""Is this one of those "read-between-the-lines" topic, where Dallas may not be the

best place to be employed as an Inspector? ""

Yea right, only if you like to go to mavs and stars game

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-fbicityhall_20met.ART.State.Edition1.4b9082d.html

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/120707dnmetcodeenforce.2b638b8.html

 

[jpranch]

I've worked in two major jurisdictions (50K+/230K+ population, and 200M+/850M+ average annual construction valuation) in the DFW area since 1988, and we have had to hire staff numerous times to keep up with the volume of construction. In each and every situation, we have had full support from the development community to raise fees, provided we could provide the service they need. The key is the relationship you have with them. That is something that Dallas and some of the other jurisdictions in the area have never understood. It's not a relationship you scramble to establish in the time of need, but the relationship you have maintained all along.

Very well said!!!

 

[mmmarvel]

And yet, I go to the city website this morning and do I see any postings/openings advertising for building inspectors?? Uh, NO!!!! I'll certainly keep my eyes open, but you'd think that if they are hurting, they'd start advertising ... just saying.

 

[jpranch]

mmmarvel, keep digging. You provide a great service to this site. Better than the ICC. I have been comparing the two. Thanks.

 

[mmmarvel]

Thanks JP, turned out to be something that I kinda like and am sorta good at. However, checked Dallas again this morning, still no postings for inspector jobs (or anything closely related). As we say down here, all hat - no cattle.

 

[Jobsaver]

Yes. Hats off to mmarvel for the service he provides on this site.

One big problem with building inspection programs in many jurisdictions, perhaps Dallas, is the concept of the general fund. All building departments should be required to account independently from other governmental functions, and operate and perform accounting as a profit and loss center within the larger organization (like a department within a department store often does). Using building fee dollars to supplement other government functions, and thereby starving the ability of staff to give prompt and competent service to the applicants paying those fees, is just short of stealing . . . maybe legal, but has the same stink.