Mount Vernon building department reports backlog cut to seven and record permit revenue in 2024

Mount Vernon Commissioner of Buildings Patrick Holder presented a year‑end operational report to the City Council summarizing the Building Department’s 2024 performance, staffing pressures and next steps for permitting and inspections.

Holder said the department cut a backlog of roughly 800 older applications (pre‑2021) to seven remaining legacy files and processed about 1,273 permits in 2024. He reported permit and fine revenue of about $3.95 million for the year, and noted the city expects to top $4 million as additional fees (e.g., elevator and absentee landlord fees) are collected.

Why it matters: the Building Department’s operational capacity affects housing starts, business permits, public‑safety inspections and owners seeking to close real estate transactions. The department described a rapid growth in application volume after launching the OpenGov permitting system late in 2022 — from around 70 to roughly 200 applications per month — and said that a state directive to add certain annual inspections increased the workload by an estimated 1,500 inspections.

Key metrics the department presented: - Application intake: OpenGov now receives about 200 applications per month (up from ~70 historically). The department sampled applications and reported an average first response for applications without plans of about seven business days (10 business days is the target window communicated by staff). For applications submitted with plans, department review averaged around seven business days in‑house, but the…