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CITY OF WEST CHICAGO
PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
ITEM TITLE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: GA.
An Ordinance Revising Certain Fees Associated with
the Rental Registration Program FILE NUMBER:
COMMITTEE AGENDA DATE: Oct. 28, 2019
Ordinance 19-O-0033 COUNCIL AGENDA DATE: Nov. 4, 2019
STAFF REVIEW: Tom Dabareiner AICP sicnature/ >
APPROVED BY CITY ADMINISTRATOR: Michael Guttman SIGNATURE
ITEM SUMMARY:
City Staff reviewed the City’s fees and procedures related to the Rental Registration Program. Based
on this analysis, recommended changes to the Municipal Code, Appendix G-Fee Schedule are sum-
marized below.
e Reduce the base rental license fee to $265, down from the current rate of $350. Prior to the
current rate, the base fee of $240 had not changed since 2013. The proposed rate of $265 rep-
resents an adjustment for inflation during this period projected into 2020, which is about the ac-
tual increase in contractual costs with the inspection company during the same period. Multi-
unit apartments would continue to pay an additional $40 per unit atop the base fee, an amount
equal to the 2013 amount of $35 plus inflation rounded up to the nearest $5 increment, which
has been past practice.
e Charge for the first re-inspection. Under the current program the first re-inspection comes at
no charge. So far this year, about half of all rental properties failed their first inspection. As
proposed, in the future these properties would be invoiced for the required re-inspection. The
proposed rate per unit is $40, which represents the average amount of expense to the City for
a rental unit re-inspection. It would become the practice to ticket landlords who fail the second
inspection.
e Provide a conditional 10% discount of the base license fee if paid prior to December 1 each
year and when there are no outstanding fines or fees owed the City. City Staff spends signifi-
cant administrative time preparing for and following up on late rental registration payments—
those that arrive after January 1—and time spent collecting other past due information. In-
stead, when paid early without any past due amounts, a discount would be provided which
lowers the base rental fee payment to $238.50. Staff estimates about 30% of landlords may
take advantage of this discount.
While researching other communities’ rental programs, Staff found there are myriad approaches.
Some have lower fees. Without knowing their specific expenses to be recouped and the full scope
of their programs, or if they intentionally subsidize their programs, it is difficult to make compari-
sons. Also, some communities reduce the number of units inspected annually or reward a building
that passes inspection on the first attempt with a “pass” which eliminates the following year's in-

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spection. Staff is concerned this would be administratively challenging to track. Furthermore, it
would result in some rental buildings going 23 months or more while carrying potential problems. In
fact, some individual apartment units could go as long as eight years without any inspection if in-
spections of the apartment building were eliminated every other year. The one constant of success-
ful rental programs: cities with comprehensive and regular inspections have fundamentally safer
and healthier rental accommodations.
In addition, Staff considered information we received from a landlord concerned about last year’s
increase in fees. A copy is attached. He referenced two documents which Staff has reviewed. Both
advocate moving to a performance-based regulatory system in which fees and the number of in-
spections vary based on the documented performance and responsiveness of a particular landlord.
For example, a problem-free property might be rewarded with no annual fee and no inspections but
a problem-riddled property with an unresponsive landlord might see rapidly increasing fees for each
inspection and a need for inspections every six months. The approach recognizes that fees can
vary widely depending on the business model in place in the community. While few would disagree
with the spirit of the performance-based approach, the details and systems needed to track and
monitor landlord performance would tax current workloads and staffing. Nevertheless, Staff believes
the City’s proposed changes—in addition to lowering the base fee—take positive steps to reduce
fees for conscientious landlords and increase the disincentives for those landlords who allow re-
pairs to lag.
Staff is prepared to implement the proposed changes starting with the 2020 Fiscal Year. With City
Council support for these changes, the revised program could be initiated November 5, 2019 when
license renewal notices are mailed.
ACTIONS PROPOSED:
Consider the proposed program and fee changes to the City’s Rental Registration Program and rec-
ommend the Ordinance.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
At their meeting held October 28, 2019, Public Affairs Committee members voted unanimously (5-0)
in favor of recommending to the Council approval of Ordinance 19-O-0033.
Pc: Ordinance 19-O-0033
Copy of text from Tom Masterson