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Shawnee moves GIS into community development; planning, code enforcement budgets remain flat
Summary
City staff moved the GIS group into community development and described largely flat 2026 community development spending while noting an uptick in construction activity and costs tied to codebook purchases and staffing absorption.
Doug Hemseth, identified in the presentation as the GIS manager, led the community development budget discussion, saying the department’s request is “a very flat budget” overall and that the most visible change is the addition of GIS staff to the department.
“This should look pretty familiar to everyone, hopefully, because it's a very flat budget,” Hemseth said, adding that moving GIS into community development should improve mapping and planning outputs.
Why it matters: The transfer of GIS from IT to community development shifts two full-time equivalents and related costs into the department and is meant to align mapping and planning work more closely with permitting, inspections and engineering review.
Hemseth described department priorities that remain focused on public safety and infrastructure oversight through plan review, inspection and code enforcement. He noted the department is working toward adoption of the 2024 International Building Code but that counties and peer agencies are still awaiting energy-code data before finalizing adoption, and he said the budget includes funds to purchase required physical codebooks for on-site use.
Staffing changes include bringing a GIS manager and a GIS support person into community development (a net personnel increase of one FTE across the department after other moves) and reassigning a business liaison position earlier in the process. Hemseth said construction activity appears to be increasing and that prior-year additions of staff (for example, a building inspector) have positioned the department to handle larger upcoming projects.
Hemseth also summarized program budgets: most community development spending is personnel-driven (about 98 percent for salaries and benefits), and there are no large transfers in 2026 comparable to prior years’ one-time project transfers such as the perimeter-park or streetscape pass-throughs.
Ending: The council heard the presentation with council members offering public commendation for the department’s work; no formal budget action was taken at this meeting.
