MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council is expected to discuss Tuesday during caucus a 2023 temporary appropriations budget that includes a $33.7 million general fund.
That’s about a 3 percent increase over the final general fund budget for 2022.
The budget includes $813,752 for the codes and permits department, an area that has become the subject of wide-ranging reorganization discussions in the last several weeks.
Mayor Tim Theaker said Friday the city is considering all options in the understaffed department, which currently has just two building inspectors to cover the entire city.
Those changes reportedly could include realigning the entire department, with the city assuming management of its own demolition projects rather than paying the Richland County Land Bank for the service.
Currently, the city pays the Land Bank $750 per demolition, a service that includes writing bid specifications and bidding the projects to contractors.
Not surprisingly, the city’s efforts to enforce building codes and permits with a short-handed department was one of the topics identified by voters a year ago in the Richland Source Citizen’s Agenda that sprang from “Talk the Vote” listening sessions.
One 5th Ward resident, during a session, said, “Community development and codes departments should work hand-in-hand to address current issues and plan to move forward.”
In September, Theaker proposed some changes to the understaffed department, changes that met with questions and resistance from some City Council members.
Sharon May, the city’s human resources director, told council the city had been unable to hire a new chief building officer since Steve Risser left the slot, a position that requires an architectural or engineering degree.
The proposed reorganization would have increased the salary ranges of the city’s licensed building official, residential building official and residential inspector positions. For example, under the proposal, the licensed building official would have a salary range of $37,000 to $63,000.
The salary range for the chief building official is between $48,000 and $85,000.
“We attempted quite diligently to fill that (chief building official) position through multiple advertising venues. We were unable to successfully fill that position. So in doing this, we are kind of reorganizing those job duties and those responsibilities to address an immediate need,” May told council in September.
“In addressing that immediate need, it could be the reshuffling of some existing employees … possibly will bring in another outside employee. But I think the key feature of this also is that it does not burden their existing budget. All departments here are very cognizant of living within their existing budgets,” she said.
Building and Codes manager Marc Milliron told council another goal was to hire an extra housing inspector to work with the two currently employed by the city, though there was nothing in the proposal that mandated filling either of the two vacant housing inspector positions that are authorized.
“We have to get them trained so that they’re certified, not just for housing, but they can also handle the position for inspecting buildings and kind of get them a whole round of training, rather than just being isolated to the one position of a housing inspector,” Milliron said.
Stephanie Zader, an At-large councilwoman, said in September it appeared the plan was to add more responsibilities to already overburdened housing inspectors, while not addressing the larger overall issues.
“We shouldn’t be piecemealing things. We should be addressing the major issues,” she said. “If you’re going to restructure a department, then restructure it in a way that is going to work for the long haul. Don’t put a band-aid on something that needs stitches.
“Your department (is second among those) that I get the most complaints about in the city of Mansfield. The number one complaint that I get is about homes that are not kept up, which is what our housing inspectors do,” Zader told Milliron.
During the Sept. 20 council meeting, Zader said the budget process is where the decisions should be made.
“It’s all the more reason to look at the department as a whole. If we look at the department as a whole, we could see what the best possible use of that budget is rather than piecemealing positions in to try to fill an immediate need,” she said.
“Planning ahead would be a very good thing for us to do. I think we are a very reactive city, rather than a proactive city. This would be a proactive measure to make sure that we’re making the best use of that budget.”
That legislation is not on council’s agenda for Tuesday.
The proposed temporary budget, which must be approved by the end of the year, doesn’t include significant changes for codes and permits.
4th Ward Councilman Alomar Davenport, chair of the finance committee, conducted department budget hearings last week, including codes and permits. He said Friday the temporary budget is just a blueprint for 2023.
A vote on the temporary spending plan is scheduled Dec. 20. Council must approve a final budget by the end of March next year.
Also on Tuesday, City Council is scheduled to:
— vote on legislation adding a fourth assistant chief to the Mansfield Fire Department. Rising call volumes for medical emergencies has prompted the need for a new assistant chief to handle EMS, according to Chief Steve Strickling.
— give first read to legislation that would increase water rates in 2023.
— vote on a resolution honoring K-9 Officer Denise on her retirement from the Mansfield Police Department after six and a half years of service. Denise is a dual-purpose narcotics K-9 from the Czech Republic who joined the MPD in July 2016. The canine will retire and will live out her life with the family of her handler, Officer Korey Kaufman.
— vote on the appropriation of $90,000 from the water fund to pay for an emergency watermain replacement project at Ohio 13 and U.S. 30. A 16-inch watermain broke beneath the U.S. 30 bridge, according to the legislation. Council is being asked to award the repair contract to BK Layer, LLC, from Perrysville, waiving competitive bidding for the work.
— vote on the reappointment of Matthew Maiyer to the Richland Public Health Board for five years.
— vote on the appointment of Clint Knight from the Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development to the Downtown Improvement Advisory Board to complete a four-year term that expires June 30, 2024. Knight would replace chamber Chief Operating Office Jodie Perry, who recently announced she was a candidate for Mansfield mayor the 2023 election cycle.
— vote on the payment of $28,000 to Rick Bond for concrete work done at the municipal parking lot garage.
— discuss during caucus the opposition to the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022 that is being included in the National Defense Authorization Act.
