Topeka council hears progress report on property-maintenance initiative; staff cites new navigator, grants and expanded inspections

Councilwoman Raquel Hiller and city staff presented a progress report on the "Changing Our Culture of Property Maintenance" initiative adopted in 2021, outlining outreach, enforcement and funding steps the city has taken to reduce substandard properties.

Hiller said the initiative's aspirational goal "was to improve the quality of structures and premises in Topeka, Kansas so that structures and premises violations are the exception rather than the rule," and described a tenant and homeowner safety-net that includes referrals to housing counseling and legal help. She said a two-year contract with Kansas Legal Services has provided consultations to more than 120 tenant households about evictions and housing-quality issues.

Planning and housing staff detailed several program components: a community navigator position (filled in August 2025 by Leo Hope) to connect residents to services; a mowing and exterior-maintenance referral program; and a Federal Home Loan Bank grant program ($750,000) used for rehabs and home repairs. Staff said the prior council allocation of $200,000 supplements the federal grants and that the earlier program (2019-2023) assisted 37 households in larger rehab projects.

Dan Warner, planning division director, described a new interdepartmental inspection partnership with Fire that targets multifamily housing (8 units or more) on a three-year/one-year inspection cycle depending on building access and interior entry. He said the city is midway through the first six-month rotation and noted steps to provide written notifications and anti-retaliation resources for tenants.

Staff emphasized education and outreach tools, including new pamphlets for inspectors, the "Coffee with Code" events, tenant-landlord trainings run with Housing and Credit Counseling, and an updated web page with materials. They also described an ongoing migration of property-maintenance records from myGov into a Tyler Technologies integrated system to better share address-based data among departments.

The presentation closed with staff noting an attached 2021-2024 aggregate data report and the 2025 quarterly data included in the meeting packet; Public Health and Safety Committee will continue work on the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code updates at its next meeting.

The council did not take formal action on the presentation; staff invited public comment at the committee meeting and asked constituents to submit additional written feedback to councilassist@topeka.org.