Economic development director urges staffing increases after permits surge; UCC fees show higher activity

Acting Director Washington told the council on July 21 that building and code-related work under economic development is producing substantially more revenue and workload than in prior years, but remains constrained by vacancies.

"Year to date, that department has provided 954 permits. A total financial location of $657,000," Washington said, comparing the figure to 232 permits the prior year. He described higher permit revenue and penalties as evidence that restoring staff will recover lost collections: staff analysis identified roughly $954,000 in permit activity and tens of thousands in penalties that had been uncollected in earlier periods.

Council members pressed for clearer revenue projections and performance metrics, including permit turnaround targets and monthly yield numbers. Several members said revenue-generating departments (UCC/building, inspections) should be able to justify additional clerical and inspector hires because added staff can pay for themselves through increased permit processing. The administration and business administrator said DCA approval is required for many civil-service-funded positions and that 1025 of the requested 25 positions already have internal sign-offs; the remainder await DCA waivers.