City upkeep on foreclosed homes could take hit
Division faces budget, staff cutsBy GRAY ROHRER, grohrer@breezenewspapers.com
Dealing with abandoned properties - mowing lots, boarding up pools and removing trash - is not a traditional function of a city's Code Compliance Division, but it is quickly becoming a stock-in-trade for Cape Coral's city government.
The maintenance of foreclosed properties helps reduce blight in neighborhoods and aids crime prevention, but proposed budget cuts could lead city officials to severely cut back on foreclosure maintenance programs or eliminate them altogether.
"I am very concerned we're not going to be able to continue those programs," Code Compliance Division Manager Frank Cassidy said.
Since June 2007, the Cape has mowed 4,534 properties and spent more than $239,000. In the 2007 fiscal year the city budgeted $16,000 for lot mowing.
In the most recent budget proposal, the Code Compliance Division is budgeted at $2.38 million, down 13.73 percent from the current budget.
That figure reflects a reduction of nine employees - one section manager, seven code compliance officers and one customer service representative.
"We're talking about eliminating an entire team from code enforcement. We're going to become totally reactive," Cassidy said, adding that his department is currently 30 percent proactive.
Cassidy said most of his budget goes to employee costs, and his operating budget stands at about $300,000.
The foreclosure epidemic that has swept the nation in the last two years has hit Cape Coral hard, and it is showing no signs of stopping.
The Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area had the nation's highest foreclosure rate in 2008, and ranked second to Las Vegas in the first six months of 2009, with one in every 14 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, according to a Realty Trac report released last month.
Cassidy is not the only city official concerned about the increase in costs and the decrease in available funds.
In a memo to council members last week, Assistant City Manager Carl Schwing stated that the foreclosure statistics "represent how close we are to loosing (sic) control."
The city is also attempting to stretch fewer dollars, a result of the severe drop in property tax revenues. Property values in the Cape have fallen nearly 50 percent in the last two years.
Council members have set a target operating budget of $116.4 million - more than $10 million less than the current budget - and on Monday set a tentative millage rate of 8.8241.
The tentative rate is higher than the rolled back rate - the rate needed to collect the same amount of revenue as the previous year - of 7.2103, signaling that council members may want to keep some departments like Code Compliance funded at current levels.
"(Code Compliance) is the one thing to keep our city stabilized during these times," Councilmember Gloria Tate said.
Because the department does not take up a large portion of the budget, Code Compliance is getting less attention during the budget process, she added.
"It was a smaller amount, but it was a very important piece of the budget," Tate said.
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PelicanPerch
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08-08-09 11:38 AM
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Ok, I'm confused. Sometime around March 09 Ordinance 139-08, sponsored by Mr Grill was passed. Responsibility for abandoned or vacant property held by Banks and other entities HAVE to register current ownership info with the City and provide a $100 reg fee. The responsible company is required to maintain the building, lawncare etc. If the prop is found in violation, the FINE is $1000 PER DAY. There is also a requirement that the house be checked bi-weekly, which has been a boon to property management companies. If under this ordinance houses are identified, registered and then fined if they fall out of compliance, where are those $100 per house fee's going to, if not helping Code Enforcement? Same question for the $1000 per day FINES? Code Enforcement is a MUST HAVE in this City, but with this Ordinance, I don't understand why the City is still maintaining vacant homes.
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lightswitch
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08-05-09 11:30 AM
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Coode enforcement is a revenue stream why would you cut this? Why not look at the six figure salaries these are certainly not keeping the best and the brightest. Also another news flash for the city the banks, mortgage companies are flush with cash their profits are rising at as much as 60% over last year. A true finance guru might do well to extrapelate current information to the problems he is trying to solve.
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lightswitch
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08-05-09 11:16 AM
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The foreclosed homes not being kept up to code reguarding, trash, mowing, deterioration ia not new news. It has been going on since the slide began in dec 2005. The city needs to be in touch with the mortgage holder if it is a bank, mortgage holder, insurance company, investment group etc.. The city council needs off its duff to begin billing on a monthly basis, bring litigation, and get our money. This is more of the lack of getting the job done that persists here. How much is enough? How much has to come to light before the do nothings do something. When will outside agencies see what is going on is not politics but out and out begligence!
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grumpy19
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08-05-09 10:24 AM
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It should not be the city's responsibility to do what they do with abandoned homes. The lender who is foreclosing is the responsible party. It's time to go after them to maintain these homes and property.
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