Metropolitan building department officials seek software, staffing and an interlocal agreement with Wichita

Chris Labrum of the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department (MABCD) told county commissioners on May 15 that the agency is near full staffing, is pursuing a new software suite to centralize permit services for small cities, and is still operating under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the City of Wichita rather than a finalized interlocal agreement.

Labrum said the department has a small land-use team (four people) and that a vacancy in floodplain management is a priority hire. He described ongoing hiring for neighborhood inspection and city-section inspectors and flagged succession risks because many supervisors are close to retirement eligibility.

Why it matters: MABCD provides permitting and inspections for Wichita and multiple smaller cities; unresolved legal and financial arrangements with Wichita and mixed ownership of fleet vehicles are complicating operations and expose the partnership to process risk.

Labrum described one decision package: add one full-time equivalent position to replace two part-time inspector roles to handle growing case-management workload tied to expired permits, void permits and contractors not calling inspections. He said the request is revenue neutral and that the division is fully funded through fees — “there's no property tax in this,” staff noted.

On governance, Labrum said MABCD continues to operate under an older MOU with Wichita and that attempts to convert that arrangement into an intergovernmental (interlocal) service agreement have stalled at times. He said 11 vehicles in the county-managed fleet remain city-owned and that, as attrition occurs, some city positions will convert to county positions; other inspector positions (about 25 FTEs) will remain city employees, he said.

Commissioner questions focused on the stalled interlocal, fleet ownership and complexity of the quasi-merged structure. Commissioner Howe criticized the arrangement as “convoluted” and urged resolution: “This is a convoluted solution. It's not as good as it could have been,” he said. Labrum and other county staff answered that the merger has produced savings (combined city and county budgets fell from about $14 million to about $10 million in the years since consolidation) and that many builders and small cities prefer the regional model.

Labrum said the planned software suite will include modules allowing small cities to directly enter permits and reduce duplicate data entry; staff expect local cities will welcome the change. The department also provided a memo detailing current small-city support and said that the software purchase in the current year explains part of the apparent budget dip for next year.

Commissioners encouraged staff to complete the interlocal agreement and to continue improving operational clarity; county staff said the agreement will require attorney general review before execution. Labrum asked the commission for consideration of the revenue-neutral inspector FTE and for ongoing support as the department implements the new software and clarifies city–county arrangements.