Westchester repoorts jump in rental inspections; director proposes new inspection fees and one full-time hire

Aaron Flook, director of building, housing and code enforcement, told the Westchester Borough Smart Growth Committee on Sept. 10 that the department completed 233 rental inspections in August and is two months ahead of processing compared with last year. "We did 233 resident, rental inspections this month, which is the largest that we've done in quite a while," Flook said. Flook urged the committee to approve budget changes that would fund a third code enforcement officer and a part-time administrative position to keep up with the volume of rental properties and to reduce the department's backlog. He said the borough currently is staffing below pre-COVID levels: "From what I understand, I wasn't here at the time, but prior to COVID, there were 3 code enforcement officers in the department. Right now, we are doing approximate we're trying to get done in a year, 5,800, little little shy of 5,900 rental inspections a year. It is theoretically possible, but not with the staff that we have right now. So I am looking at adding a code enforcement officer that would be able to help in that regard and also a part time admin...." To cover the increased workload, Flook said the borough plans to separate and raise fees for rental licenses and to begin charging for rental inspections, which historically have been provided at no charge. "We have never charged for the rental inspections. We are going we kind of are forced at this point to do that because we just don't have the money to perform those amount of inspections," he said. Flook said the proposed pricing uses a formula the department has tested and would still be about $30 less than contracting the work to a third party. Flook also said the department will introduce a reinspection fee for follow-up visits after failed inspections; property owners would receive one return visit included with the initial inspection. He told the committee the approach will include a pre-inspection checklist so property owners can correct common deficiencies before the inspector arrives. Committee members pressed for details on comparable fees and staffing. Flook said peer municipalities in the region charge roughly $110 to $125 per year for licensing/inspection programs and that some charge as low as $80. He also presented a staffing benchmark: one code officer per 1,500–2,000 rental units; with two officers Westchester would need to inspect roughly 2,900 units annually to hit a one-year inspection cycle, a level he called "untenable." Discussion vs. decision: Committee members asked questions and expressed support for the plan; the committee did not take a formal, recorded vote on fee changes or hires during the Sept. 10 meeting. Flook said the fee and staffing proposals will be folded into the department budget for further review at a future meeting. Clarifying details: Flook said the department is roughly two months ahead of last year in processing rental licenses, intends to charge for inspections (previously free), proposes a single included reinspection and additional reinspection fees thereafter, and seeks one full-time code enforcement officer plus a part-time administrator to enable a yearly inspection cadence. He also said current zoning hearing costs exceeded budget projections (about $50,000 actual vs. $30,000 estimated), increasing pressure to bring zoning work in-house to reduce third-party costs. Ending: Committee members endorsed continued work on the budget proposal and asked staff to return with final fee schedules and staffing cost estimates for committee and council review.