The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
EXPRESSING OBJECTION
Months after inspection fee increase in Oneida, landlords are not happy
On June 1, 2021, the City of Oneida’s Common Council approved a 500% inspection fee increase for rental properties. The change in fee flew under the radar for months, but now area landlords are not happy to be getting their new bill.
The increased fee, set now to $150 ($4.16 per month/per unit for 3 years), is a stark increase from the $30 it used to be over the same timeframe. Properties that qualify for inspection are two-family and up rental units, and owner-occupied units with 3 or more families, explained City of Oneida Director of Code Enforcement Bob Burnett. Single-family rental units need only be inspected if a complaint is received, he said.
Landlords filled the seats at a council meeting on August 17, 2021, to object the fees.
“Do you realize that I have tenants that are behind in all of the buildings? The government will not allow us to evict them,” said Hal Stevens, who owns four properties in Oneida with his wife, Sharon. “It’s almost another tax bill.”
Bob Walters, Director of Oneida Housing Authority, which he says is one of the largest landlords in the area, spoke for the record that he formally protests the rise in fees. “It isn’t an appropriate time,” he said, listing his reasons for his objection. “We’re still in a pandemic.”
He said revenues are down, which in his case, come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Private landlords echoed his struggles with revenue.
Other complaints shared about the fees included dealing with delinquent tenants who damage property but can’t be kicked out. The cost of these repairs, which are often cosmetic, some landlords said, is a problem
of its own.
“Someone who doesn’t have an apartment doesn’t have to keep their property in the most pristine shape like we’re required to,” Stevens remarked. He said he tries to maintain his properties while staying within a budget. It’s either that or raise the rent. “Eventually, nobody is going to be able to afford it,” he said.
He also said current increased supply costs due to the pandemic and finding contractors in a timely matter is an issue that should come with some leniency. Under New York State guidelines, landlords have 30 days to correct the issues discovered in an inspection, Burnett explained to the Dispatch. “We are mandated to do that 30 day reinspect, or sooner. But we can’t exceed the 30 days,” Burnett said. To Stevens, this time limit is unreasonable in some cases.
Raising the fee was not done arbitrarily, the codes director said. There’s a reason behind it: encouraging compliance. The city is following the same plan as done in the City of Oswego, where their inspection fees were increased by the same amount from the original $30, Burnett said. That model has worked very well for Oswego, and Oneida is hoping it’ll do the same for their city, too, he said.
“At $30 per unit, some owners would go many months potentially without fixing ” he explained of Oneida. That’s not just units left not up to code, that’s time and effort on behalf of the codes department to send a housing inspector out each month to check on the status of repairs.
If some landlords were willing to spend another $30 to buy them an extra 30 days of time, Burnett hopes the increased fee will stop that.
“The $150 is a good tool, a good incentive to reduce and hopefully gain quick and rapid compliance, which also makes the city look better and is safer for the occupants,” he said.
Included in the initial $150 fee over three years is one free re-inspection. If reinspections are needed after that, it’ll be an additional $150 per inspection.
Regardless of whether the landlords agree with the fee increase, many voiced that they wished there was better communication about it beforehand.
“I was completely unaware of , and I’m one of the biggest landlords in Oneida,” Walters stated. “I was not privy by any means whatsoever that this was going to come to the council for official vote to become law.”
Other landlords voiced the same thing, that they weren’t clued in and wished they were.
The fee resolution is listed on the agenda for the June 1, 2021 meeting, which is made public prior to each meeting and can be viewed on the city’s website. Agendas are usually forwarded to the Dispatch for review about 5 days in advance. The time they are posted on the city’s website has not been confirmed.
Councilor Jim Coulthart explained to the Dispatch that the fee resolution is an agenda item that’s a part of regular fiscal business. According to a NYS document on local government action, an item such as this would not necessitate a preceding public hearing. The creation/amendment of local laws and the passing of a budget are examples of actions first requiring a hearing.
Landlord Fred Cianfrocco told the Dispatch that a hearing might not have been required, but it would have been courteous to have one.
Oneida Mayor Helen Acker assured landlords present at the August 17 meeting that a hearing notice was published in the Oneida Dispatch regarding this fee resolution, though a hearing apparently never occurred, according to the Dispatch’s research. Such legal notice is not evident on the city’s website, either. The city clerk did not respond to the Dispatch’s calls in time to confirm.
Bruce Mclean, of Madison County Apartments LLC, stated, “It would seem to me, that versus just putting it in the paper, which no one reads, that since you already have our tax codes and know that we’re landlords, you might want to send a letter informing us that you want to change an inspection fee. The cost of doing that is not that much.
“You have to start thinking about us as business people,” he said.
Stevens suggested to the council, “maybe you need to reconsider and raise accordingly over time, not 5 times in one shot.”
Acker told the Dispatch shortly after the most recent council meeting on Sept. 7 that she had discussed the inspection fees with the council and that the fees will be remaining as is.