Table of Contents - Unified Government of Wyandotte County ...

Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas2012 Amended and 2013 Operating BudgetDivision OverviewRental License and InspectionDivision Overview:The Rental Licensing Program enforces the Unified Government's ordinances regarding propertymaintenance and building codes for residential rental property within the city. The program is in place toimprove the quality of residential rental property and to assist in addressing neighborhood issues thatarise around these properties. Rental Housing is a business and as such is recognized as a business.The revenue collected from landlord rental licenses funds this program. All residential rental propertymust be licensed annually and maintained according to the standards included in the UnifiedGovernment's property maintenance and building codes.Important Issues: Inspections need to be on a two and five year rotation consistently. Due to a shortage ofpersonnel, the Division has not been able to complete this task in 2011 but intend to get back ontrack for 2012. The Division has been short one inspector due to medical reasons, which has reduced thenumber of inspections. It is hoped the Division will be fully staffed by the end of 2012 or thebeginning of 2013. It is expected that program costs may increase in the near future and result in the need for a feeincrease in 2013. Examples of program costs would include personnel increases and costsassociated with a possible landlord training program.New Initiatives: It is a challenge to establish a good timeframe for the rotation of inspections on rental properties.Efforts are being made to inspect multi-unit complexes every two years, inspect single to five-unitbuildings every five years, and handle complaints within 48 hours if at all possible. Several options are being discussed with regard to the establishment of a Landlord TrainingProgram. One of the options would involve making the training mandatory in order to maintain arental license. In order to have consistent training, it may be necessary to hire professionaltrainers to conduct the classes. This training could also be used in a variety of other ways,including a sentencing tool in Municipal Court.195