State Building Code Council approves FY26 budget, council and DES warn expenditure authority still needed

The State Building Code Council voted to approve a fiscal year 2026 budget prepared by the Department of Enterprise Services after a two-hour discussion on Aug. 15, 2025, in a virtual meeting. The motion, moved by Dan Young and seconded by Ben O'Mara, passed on a recorded roll call 6–2 with council members Tom Handy and Roger Haringa voting no.

The budget matter matters because the council’s operating fund — made up of building-permit fees and architect-license transfers — currently contains about $1.4 million in net position, but state law limits how much the council can legally spend unless the Legislature restores expenditure authority. Department of Enterprise Services budget operations manager Mike Diaz told the council that the fund balance is “about 1,400,000.0” as of June 30 and that FY25 actuals produced a net income in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“That revenue comes in from cities and counties as they're selling permits, as well as architect license fees,” Mike Diaz said while presenting the workbook and the FY25 actuals, FY25 planned and the FY26 plan. Diaz said DES expects continued uncertainty in revenue because permit activity varies with market conditions.

Nut graf: The council approved a FY26 operating plan that keeps staffing at the six…