Detroit council hears Building Safety budget; approves executive-session reviews and funding add-ons for inspections, permitting and air monitoring

Detroit City Council members on Wednesday questioned the Building Safety, Engineering and Environmental Department’s 2025 priorities and approved a series of additions to the department’s budget review, asking staff to return with more detail.

Director David Bail, who leads the department, opened the budget hearing with a summary of 2024 workload and a set of 2025 goals, saying the department “performed 261,489 inspections” last year and oversees 323 employees. He told council the department would launch a citywide air quality monitoring network, expand compliance inspections and overhaul its permitting software, Acela.

The council pressed Bail and his team on enforcement and follow-through for rental housing and senior multifamily buildings, the practical effect of fines, and the speed of repairs for elevators and other life-safety systems. Council member Leticia Johnson said she repeatedly finds substandard living conditions in senior and multifamily buildings and that “it truly breaks my heart to see the quality of life that our residents are living in.” She asked for more aggressive oversight of landlords and better pathways to help owners bring housing up to code.

Bail said the department has increased enforcement actions and fines for rental properties — reporting more than $5.8 million in rental-related tickets issued last year — and that the department is coordinating rental inspections with elevator inspections. He also said the city launched a 15-point simplified inspection pilot covering about 75% of ZIP codes and…