DOPL presents budget, audit response; seeks pay and vehicle funding for inspectors

The Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Feb. 6 that it continues to reconcile cash balances from a 2020 consolidation, is responding to a legislative audit finding about excessive board cash balances, and is seeking targeted funding to address inspector turnover and equipment needs.

Kellen McGurkin, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, walked the committee through DOPL’s organization, funding and recent activity. McGurkin said DOPL was formed by House Bill 318 in 2020 and consolidated what had been 11 agencies and nearly 50 boards into one division; DOPL now supports 45 boards and commissions and bills those boards for centralized services.

The agency is funded entirely from dedicated and federal funds; it does not use general-fund appropriations, DOPL staff said. McGurkin noted the agency received transfers and receipts of roughly $83 million in the audited period—about $50 million transferred from board cash balances and about $30 million in licensing revenues.

Audit status and cash balances: April Renfro of Legislative Audit summarized an open audit finding dating to prior reports that centers on excessive cash balances held by boards. Renfro said DOPL has provided regular reports describing plans to reduce those balances and the division is implementing fee reductions and proposing fee holidays to lower ending balances. She said the finding remains open pending follow-up on DOPL’s corrective actions.

Requested enhancements: DOPL requested ongoing dedicated funding of $222,000 to increase pay for inspector positions in the Bureau of Building, Construction and Real Estate (an average increase of about $0.95 per hour across 92 FTP) to address persistent turnover. The agency said turnover among inspector roles has been as high as 67 percent in some programs, and starting wages for inspectors have lagged private-sector and local-government pay.

DOPL also requested $900,500 in one-time dedicated funds for vehicle replacement: 16 Ford F-150s ($648,000), five Ford Escapes ($165,000), one Ford F-250 ($44,500) and one Ford Explorer ($43,000); the agency said one Escape and the Explorer will serve the Bureau of Occupational Licenses while the rest will serve the Bureau of Building, Construction and Real Estate. The division also requested $146,401 one-time dedicated funding for hardware recommended by the Office of Information and Technology Services.

Director Russ Baron, DOPL administrator, told the committee the requested pay adjustments aim to raise starting pay (reported in the presentation to move from $27.50 per hour to $28.60) and provide a roughly 2.5 percent compression adjustment for incumbents in inspector roles. Baron said inspectors perform public-safety inspections (plumbing, HVAC, electrical, elevator safety and others), that turnover has required long periods to refill positions, and that vacancies increase overtime and workload for remaining staff.

Baron also described the new licensing system the division implemented in phased releases last year and said the system has increased efficiency, enabled same-day determinations in many cases, reduced duplicate document submissions, and improved cross-training opportunities.

Committee auditors and members asked DOPL for additional detail on board-by-board cash balances and the division said a December report and plans for reducing balances are on SharePoint for committee review. Audit staff said they will continue follow-up on DOPL’s corrective actions.

Ending: DOPL and audit staff agreed to follow up with the committee on the board-by-board cash-balance plan and on the status of fee changes; DOPL asked for the committee’s consideration of the pay and equipment requests as part of the budget process.