Development department faces $1.1M shortfall; blight abatement contracts cut

Rachel Lambert, representing the Department of Development, told the council the department will see about a $1,100,000 reduction in its 2026 allotment and proposed operational changes to close the gap. The cuts include eliminating a second subdivision engineer (leaving one chief development engineer) and reducing staffing in permits and inspections and subdivision engineering, with 31 position allotments proposed for elimination.

Lambert said the department expects longer review times as a result. She noted that plan review turnaround is currently less than three days and that the department will try to maintain guaranteed service levels — seven days for residential plan review and 24 days for commercial — even after staffing reductions. She said the South Central Planning contract performs much of the plan review work and that a smaller number of internal reviewers will be supplemented by that contract.

Neighborhood revitalization (blight abatement) will be especially affected: Lambert said the proposed 2026 budget includes zero general‑fund dollars for contracted blight abatement, compared with about $2,200,000 spent in the current year. "We will have to rely solely on in‑house crews for most blight abatement," she said, and added that some CDBG dollars remain but are limited by environmental and historic‑preservation eligibility in parts of the city, including substantial areas of South Mid‑City, South Baton Rouge and Scotlandville.

Lambert outlined mitigation ideas city staff plan to bring to council, including fee changes. She said the reinspection fee is currently $20 but costs the city about $75 per inspection; the department subsidizes the average residential permit by roughly $300–$400. The subdivision fee (currently $100 plus $25 per lot) also fails to cover workload for complex reviews, she said. Lambert said the department has discussed proposed fee schedules with stakeholders and intends to bring ordinances for council consideration (fees are part of Title 8).

Lambert reported revenue and workload changes behind the cuts: she said comparable revenue was about $4.7 million in January–October 2024 and about $3.2 million in the comparable 2025 period — roughly a 30% decline — and attributed much of that drop to the transition of permitting for some areas to the newly formed City of Saint George. She said the department completed about 1,000 plan reviews and issued about 6,700 permits in 2025, versus about 1,700 plan reviews and 9,300 permits in 2024.

On condemnations and demolitions, Lambert said the department has conducted roughly 2,000 condemnation inspections this year, introduced 327 condemnations and the council has condemned 230 structures. She said 178 structures were demolished this year (47 in‑house and 131 contracted), with average contracted demo costs around $10,000 and approximately $1.37 million of CDBG used to support demolition activity. Lambert said about 30 additional structures are likely to be demolished by year end and roughly 70 condemned structures are "in waiting" pending asbestos testing or environmental clearance to qualify for grant funds.

Lambert said the department is exploring increased fines, fees and penalties and additional grant funding to sustain operations. She also described a proposed modeling fee for stormwater modeling work currently performed by HNTB as a pass‑through charge for certain projects, but said she does not expect that fee to generate more than about $50,000 annually given the reduced number of projects since Saint George assumed permitting in many flood/conveyance zones.

The council pressed Lambert on counts, rescissions and the costs to the city when condemnations are rescinded; she said rescissions this year have been substantial — about 45 — and that recording fees and some remediation costs are recouped but administrative time is generally not reimbursed.