By Joe Ragusa
BLOOMINGTON – A lot of landlords in Bloomington will be paying more for their rental inspection program registration fees.
The Bloomington City Council approved a change to its rental inspection program fee structure Monday night.
The fees were originally set up so landlords would pay over four times the normal rate if the building was in bad shape. Now it will be a flat $65 a year plus an additional $5 per unit with buildings of three or more units. Director of Community Development Tom Dabareiner said the fee means about $1.56 per month, per unit in a four-unit building.
“It’s a minimal amount that goes towards covering the cost of the program,” Dabareiner said.
Because of underfunding, the yearly inspections are only done once every three years. Alderman Kevin Lower said that kind of system could work.
“I think that probably a random check once every three years, with the landlord not really knowing when you might come in, would be a fairly viable thing and would not be nearly as expensive as hiring another employee,” Lower said.
The extra revenue from the fee change will go towards hiring another inspector. Alderman Scott Black said he’d rather see the current ordinance met than see it scaled back.
“I think it would be significantly more unpopular and would not meet the needs of our residents,” Black said.
Lower was the only vote against the proposal. Alderwomen Joni Painter and Diana Hauman were absent from Monday’s meeting.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at joe.ragusa@cumulus.com.
