Business and Neighborhood Services proposes fee overhaul, continuous-vacancy enforcement and expanded demolition after staffing and permitting updates

The Department of Business and Neighborhood Services presented a 2026 budget proposal and a set of fee and penalty changes to the Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee on Aug. 18, 2025, seeking to stabilize revenues and modernize permitting and enforcement operations.

Director Abby Brands summarized operational work and regulatory changes, including two state laws that affected permitting this year: House Bill 1037 limited local authority over erosion and sediment control for sites under one acre, which changed the city's ability to issue certain drainage permits; House Bill 1005 authorizes private third-party plan review and inspection for residential work starting Jan. 1, 2026. Brands said the department paused some drainage permitting to review the legal changes and adapt its processes.

BNS said it has issued roughly 20,000 permits year to date with an average open-to-ready-to-issue turnaround of about 6.25 days across all permit types; development permits (zoning, structural and drainage) averaged about 13 days. Brands described customer-service innovations including a "bookings" link that allows applicants to schedule direct time with permit reviewers and a public-facing closure viewer that visualizes road-closure and right-of-way permits.

On enforcement and code work, Brands highlighted a continuous-vacancy program leveraging state statute to prioritize long-term vacant properties that have had at least three consecutive repair orders; BNS estimates about 150–200 properties would be eligible in year one and that about 60% of those are owned by companies, out-of-state individuals or trusts. The department also described progress in demolition: an extra $3 million invested last year allowed bids on 54 structures in 2024, 79 demolitions completed to date and a backlog reduced to roughly 110 affirmed structures (down from about 500 ten years ago).

BNS proposed fee updates that include a reinspection fee (aligned with peer cities), updated inspection accelerators for commercial projects, and structural-plan-review and structural-fee formula changes. Brands said the changes were informed by a Baker Tilly rate-and-fee analysis and peer comparisons; she provided examples showing the department's proposed increases would remain below or competitive with peer jurisdictions in some categories. To illustrate, a hypothetical 2,500-square-foot residential new building would pay roughly $1,000 in structural fees under the proposed formula (compared with larger figures cited for some peers), and a 25,000-square-foot commercial project would see plan-review and structural-fee adjustments that reflect third-party review costs.

Amanda Thompson, president of AFSCME Local 1437, endorsed the proposed budget package and staffing priorities, and BNS noted it had reduced its vacancy count to 18 positions from a high of 70 a year earlier. Brands also described a new illegal-dumping assistance program and a highways-and-grass assistance program to help homeowners with financial or physical hardship, and said the department would continue digital license renewal and web-content overhauls to improve customer access.

Council members raised operational concerns: some asked for clearer timelines to speed permitting and urged more court docket capacity to process violations more quickly; Brands and staff said coordination with the city prosecutor and efforts to improve interdepartmental processes were underway. The BNS board will consider fee changes before council codification; Brands said the department planned a multi-step process with board votes and a committee follow-up.