Haigh requested a total of $234,335 for the Code Enforcement Office--a 40 percent increase in the current budget for the department. The increases are primarily in personnel costs. Haigh is proposing increasing the clerk's hourly wage from $16.40 to $19.50, adding a second full-time code enforcement officer with a salary of $60,000, and increasing his own annual salary by $10,000 to $84,359.
Haigh defended the need for another full-time code enforcement officer by saying the Code Enforcement Office is getting progressively busier, and there is enough work for a second officer. He said the projects now happening in Hudson--citing in particular Depot Lofts and the Pocketbook Factory--"take big-time inspection." He admitted he never thought this would happen in Hudson, and then mentioned four big projects that have been proposed and are now somewhere in the planning stage, among them the "housing development" being proposed by Walter Chatham for the area off Hudson Avenue.
City treasurer Heather Campbell asked, "If you have another full-time officer, can you get rid of one of the part-timers?" Haigh acknowledged that one of the part-time positions could be eliminated if there were another full-time code enforcement officer. The salaries of the part-timers are $23,078 and $22,048.
The BEA meetings continue on Wednesday with presentations of the proposed budgets for the City's team of lawyers, the mayor's office, and the assessor's office.
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I think we might be in for an inflationary budget proposal this year: If Haigh is asking for a salary increase that would put his nearly 5% above the mayor's, it is not difficult to predict what Kamal will propose for the mayor's office's budget.
ReplyDeleteCode enforcement in Hudson meanwhile is, as best as I can tell, largely non-existent. That might either be an indictment of the current code enforcement officer or indicative of persistent underfunding of the code enforcement department.
There is another factor at work: courts that don’t enforce CE citations. When a property owner fails to shovel their sidewalk for a week, the code says that’s 7 violations. The courts routinely in the past reduced the violation to one day. This is not an incentive to compliance. Rather, it’s a message to CE: “stop enforcing the code.” And so they do.
DeleteThis budget will probably be inflationary in the sense of insurance and benefits obligations, that is for sure. As far as Code Enforcement, as many have pointed out, is underfunded, and many here would argue works much harder than the Mayors Office. I think most sensible people here aren’t budget hawks for the sake of it. We understand things that bring material benefit to the city need to be funded. We mainly take issue with spending more money on things like PILOTs for luxury developers, or giving big raises to the mayor’s girlfriend in some nebulous “housing justice” role. A position that doesn’t seem to have a clear mission or goals, and now seems to be running the city in many ways with the comprehensive plan and managing RFPs for non housing projects.
DeleteAt least the BEA will have a nice head start on revenue due to the efforts to finally go after back taxes, +700K so far (thanks Vicky, Margaret and Rich). If I were to give Kamal some free campaign advice it would be to use this blessing to get a balanced budget out, without tax increases or reserve fund raiding, because an increase before the election is bad optics. Also bad optics would be asking for a pay raise for himself or Michelle. No pay raise is better than no salary at all. That’s the stakes for him, hence why his campaigning reeks of desperation.
You are correct, John. But also, as Craig's words indicate, his office's time is primarily, if not entirely, taken up with building inspections. So the ubiquitous code violations outside of buildings that we all have to live with and see daily all get ignored by CEO: in front and backyards, on sidewalks, sidewalks that can kill, abandoned vehicles on private property, garbage in the alleys, abandoned rotting houses (where no building permits mean no inspections), and so on and on.
DeleteYes, there should be two full time inspectors, but only if they promise to up their game. And the main enforcement officer must give a department report to the council every month, just like every other department head. Show up and tell us what you spent your time and budget money on last month. Answer questions and concerns from the council and the public! Duh!
I have long believed that the Code Enforcement office is the hardest working, most underfunded, department in the city. The role the office plays in the safety of our quickly developing city is essential.
ReplyDeleteMr. Haigh's proposal is modest for all the building projects, large and small, that they deal with; all of the violations they investigate; all of the meetings they need to attend; all of the personalities they need to deal with.
I believe that the operative question is not, with this increase " can you get rid of one of the part-timers?", but, "with this increase will the office be able to process more inspections of existing buildings, more snow removal violations and and the like?"
Think about the recent fire that involved two buildings, two restaurants, many apartments. The issue is safety of our built environment, housing, restaurants, businesses within a dense two square miles, the lives and livelihoods of Hudson residents. Code Enforcement is not a place to skimp.
Hilary Hillman
1st Ward
Agree that Craig and the CEO office is way overworked and underfunded. It’s one department that’s burdened with two functions; code enforcement and a buildings department. The recent construction boom, which is a good thing for Hudson, is getting most of their attention. Building permits, inspections and safety is arguably more important, but it leaves little time for enforcement of quality of life issues—you know, the ones Bill likes to point out. I mostly agree with Bill that theses go mostly overlooked, but I believe it’s due to bandwidth and not avoidance.
ReplyDeleteHow much dose code enforcement permits take in approximately? I am sure it increases annually. If and when the C E gets the requested funding ,as it should, will the fines and permits issued be greater than the cost increase. issuing a fine is fine, collecting it is another matter. Are unpaid property fines added to the property tax?
ReplyDeleteEvery city has cost centers and revenue centers. Hudson is no exception.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Code Enforcement office works quickly and predictably, it clears the way for construction, raises property values, and grows the tax base that funds essential public services. If they are stretched thin and make a mistake, it could have life and death consequences in a fire or other emergency.
It brings in revenue, improves safety, enforces compliance, and cuts the city’s legal risk.
Any current or prospective resident can approach the Code Office and "use" it. No one is excluded based on immutable traits.
Only the Code Office can do what the Code Offices does, by law.
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Due to poor leadership in the past Hudson also has "liability centers". These departments burn money, invite lawsuits, and erode trust. The Housing “Justice” Office is a good example of a cascading and compounding liability and cost center that started out as a well intentioned and opportunistic project.
It adds cost, deepens inequality, and increases the city’s exposure to legal trouble. Not to mention conflicts of interest.
Hudson should invest in departments that drive growth and treat residents equally, and cut the ones that drain resources, duplicate national and state efforts, and erode trust.
Craig... you guys do good and necessary work and you are reliable.
One idea... Hudson is small, do you need many of your own department vehicles?
Could we save capital and ongoing fees in the future on insurance by having fewer and smaller cars?
"Every city has cost centers and revenue centers"
DeleteThe city is not a business, full stop.
Who said the City is a business?
DeleteThe City is of course a municipal corporation that levies fees and taxes ( a type of revenue, but if you want to be technical we can call it "enterprise funds" generating service-charge revenue.
Perhaps your point is that a municipality should not be purely financially driven, but take intangibles and other outputs and inputs into account?
Our point stands that the City is not doing a good job of balancing money going out, and money coming in. And it is not as efficient as it could be. And it is maybe violating several laws, certainly best practices, in how it collects taxes and how it spends money.
Kamal - when last did you hold a Departmental Heads meeting?
How much money in old parking tickets remind uncollected?
Why is Hudson not collecting delinquent property tax for years?
David - you have been around these parts for a while. Why is the City of Hudson so bad at turning taxes into true public goods that can be consumed by all.... and why is our annual budget 2-3x that of equally populated towns all around us even though we have a smaller footprint of physical infrastructure?
p.s. Ending a statement with "full stop", does not make it more or less true. If anything it is just a reminder of Kamal's painful and hubristic valediction at the primary debate. The swan song of a man without conviction or command of the moment, mistaking punctuation for authority.
That's all good but Hudson isn't exactly rolling in revenue. If a full timer is added, then the work load of the CEO should go down, so why a $10K increase for a decreased work load? As far as available jobs currently in Hudson, $74K isn't bad. A better paying job someplace else is great if you can get it, but I don't see what a salary of some other NYS job has to do with the CEO job here in Hudson.
ReplyDelete