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Building & Neighborhood Services seeks position reclassifications, requests modest vehicle and training funding
Summary
Department leaders proposed reclassifying permitting and IT positions, adding a development technician step, and requested one new pool vehicle plus ongoing training and code update costs; overall budget largely personnel-driven and stable.
Tom Marsh, director of Building and Neighborhood Services, presented his department’s FY‑26 base budget and program enhancement requests, describing the budget as largely personnel-driven and “consistent” with prior years. Marsh said the department facilitated substantial private investment in 2024 and that the organization chart will remain unchanged except for proposed title reclassifications.
Marsh outlined three reclassification proposals in the permitting and technical support area: upgrading the permitting operations supervisor to development services manager; reclassifying permit technicians as development services technicians and creating a tiered Development Services Technician 2; and reclassifying the technical support specialist as a development services IT specialist. Marsh said those changes reflect broader development-services responsibilities and are intended to create career pathways to retain experienced staff.
The department also proposed one fleet addition: a dedicated “floater” vehicle to reduce the operational impact when assigned vehicles are out of service. Marsh said the department has roughly 20 assigned vehicles and would move an older assigned vehicle into the pool after adding the new unit.
Operational costs highlighted included continuing professional education for staff (the department holds more than 200 professional certifications) and one-time costs tied to adopting the 2024 International Codes, including code publications and training. Marsh also described continued annual maintenance for new short-term rental (STVR) software and a modest public-outreach line for floodplain mailings used during FEMA map adoption.
Marsh said the total additional personnel cost if all program enhancements are approved would be roughly $40,000 annually; operations typically hover around $300,000 and the department is not requesting capital expenditure beyond the single vehicle.
Ending: Marsh and staff said the reclassifications aim to reflect expanded responsibilities and provide career steps to retain permit staff; committee members asked questions about take-home vehicles and the proposed floater unit.
