Building Inspection Commission backs DBI budget, asks mayor and supervisors to restore SRO/SEOP grant funding

The Building Inspection Commission on Feb. 12, 2025 voted unanimously to recommend the Department of Building Inspection's (DBI) proposed fiscal-year 2024–25 and 2025–26 budget to the mayor and Board of Supervisors, and to press for restoration of a $1,128,000 planned cut to DBI grant-funded tenant outreach programs.

Deputy Director for Administration Alex Koskinen presented the department's two-year budget submission to the commission, describing largely technical adjustments, a set of 11 proposed new positions and a set of policy-driven staffing additions intended to improve permitting and records work. Koskinen also noted a citywide hiring freeze announced by the mayor's office and outlined three options DBI staff identified to replace the grant cut: (1) request that the mayor and Board of Supervisors restore general-fund support; (2) increase hotel license fees (averaging about 180%, by DBI's calculation) and apartment license fees (averaging about 7%); or (3) raise all DBI fees by roughly 1.5%.

The commission's action followed more than an hour of public comment from tenants and nonprofit organizers who said the contract-funded SRO and SEOP outreach programs are critical for habitability enforcement and tenant safety in San…