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Development Services seeks staff and $436,465 for arts, permits and customer‑service upgrades
Summary
Portia, acting head of Development Services, outlined decision packages including funding for historic‑district streetscape plans, a consolidated film permit and a $436,465 arts and cultural affairs package that would fund sponsorships, temporary and permanent public art and marketing.
Portia (acting director of Development Services) presented the department's decision packages to the Budget Advisory Board on May 21, outlining staffing requests, process changes and an expanded arts and cultural affairs budget.
"Our building services division processed 25,000 permits that exceeded about $2,200,000,000 in construction value," Portia said, noting a 13% decrease in permit value year over year and 62,500 inspections conducted by building services during the fiscal year.
The department requested $100,000 for a consultant to develop a Selby Bend Historic District streetscape beautification plan and $50,000 for a consultant for the Himmarshee Historic District. Portia said these consultants would prepare temporary or permanent streetscape concepts that tie back to neighborhood vision plans and special entertainment district updates.
The largest single decision package in Development Services is a $436,465 request for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Portia provided a breakdown: $150,000 for sponsorships and programs, $150,000 for temporary and permanent art installations, $30,000 for advertising and marketing, $30,000 for a one‑time software implementation cost, and $5,000 for an operational consultant; the package also included a request for an administrative assistant to support the public art and placemaking advisory board.
Portia described plans to centralize film permitting with a new film permit ordinance and fee schedule to be presented to the City Commission in August; today filming activity pays multiple separate departmental fees and the new process would consolidate review and capture application fees in one permit.
On customer service, Development Services asked for a division manager for the call center and $75,000 for software and operational improvements to move quality assurance from a manual call‑download process to an automated tool. Portia said the call center has handled about 40,000 FixIt FTL tickets since March and roughly 40,000 calls per year.
Board members asked for clarification on a $66,000,000 figure the department said is outstanding in code enforcement fines and liens; Portia said a commission presentation on collections is scheduled for June 17. Portia also said the department is exploring expanded business‑planning services, a certificate of use process to give prospective businesses earlier clarity on zoning, and options for neighborhood involvement in streetscape projects.
No formal budget decisions were made at the advisory meeting; Portia's presentation will inform the city manager's recommended budget and later Commission consideration.
