City Council Budget Hearing: BZA Presentation - March 13, 2026
City Council Budget Hearing: Board of Zoning Appeals Presentation - March 13, 2026
The Detroit City Council heard a budget presentation from the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) for fiscal year 2026-2027. Director Ray Brown highlighted a leaner staffing model, a significant decline in projected revenues, and ongoing challenges with community appeals, transcript costs, and circuit court cases. Council members discussed the budget, operational issues, and community outreach, and made several motions.
Budget Presentation & Discussion
- Director Brown presented the BZA's budget snapshot: total expenditures of $57,100 (though breakdown items suggest a total around $570,000), total revenues of $53,040, and net tax costs of $5,000 (with an additional $118,768 referenced unclearly). The budget includes three full-time positions, with personnel and benefits accounting for 71% of total expenditures. Salaries and wages are approximately $308,000; employee benefits about $98,000; professional and contractual services $141,000; operating supplies $4,500; and operating services $18,250.
- Revenue from sales and charges for services dropped from $112,000 in FY 2026 to $53,040 proposed for FY 2027, attributed to a decline in BZA cases (from 93 cases in 2024 to an estimated 30-35 in the current fiscal year). The drop is partly due to fewer marijuana and auto-related cases and improved compliance through the Excel system.
- Director Brown noted that the BZA is a quasi-judicial body that hears appeals, variances, and exceptions. He explained that community appeals require the appellant to meet a strict “aggrieved person” standard set by state law. Transcript costs are $6.25 per page (average 300 pages), and the contract was bid through procurement. The BZA is exploring a consolidated court reporter contract across departments.
- The BZA has three current cases in circuit court, all community appeals. Director Brown expressed concern that the BZA is often the last step in the process, and that better community outreach and pre-hearing reviews could reduce conflicts.
- Council members discussed the need for improved training for BZA members (two members attended training in 2025), the impact of losing one FTE (a frozen appeals specialist position), and the importance of community notifications. Member Miller noted that 300-foot notification can miss neighbors in historic districts. Member Johnson encouraged a survey of board members' comfort levels.
- Director Brown reported that the BZA has a public-access computer (with USB and email options) and that the office is staffed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. He also noted that four members' terms expire in December 2026, and that tardiness is a problem with one or two members.
Key Outcomes
- Councilmember McCampbell's motion to place the BZA budget into executive session was approved without objection.
- Councilmember McCampbell's motion to put the conversation around court reporting across all departments into executive session was approved.
- Councilmember Benson's motion to place the entire BZA budget into executive session was approved.
- Councilmember Johnson's motion to add community outreach review for various departments (including BZA) to executive session was approved, with Member Miller joining the motion.
- Councilmember Callaway raised a concern about a citizen who mistakenly paid $600 to the BZA for a DAH ticket. Agency CFO Andre Blair offered to assist in crediting the payment to the correct account, and the council agreed to handle the matter offline.
- No final votes on the budget were taken; the budget was placed into executive session for further discussion.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you so much. We have a quorum, which means we're now in second. In session, excuse me, I want to bring up the BZA. Director Bribron, come on down. Mr. Brubron, is that for us? Those documents or no. Okay, good. Tell you what this is. Uh oh. He's got props. He's got props. All right. Mr. Burrown, we do, and uh, Madam Clerk, if you can know that we've been joined by Pro Tim Young. Thank you much. Uh Director Rip Brown, the floor is yours, sir. Uh good morning, council members. Happy 313 day. It is a pleasure to be before you once again. I believe this is uh year 13 for me. The irony of it. I love it. Um I'm here today to present my uh BZA budget presentation for fiscal year 2026-2027. This presentation provides a concise overview of the BZA's budget, operational needs, and strategic priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. Next slide, please. This slide that you see is the desktop computer that is in the office of the Board of Zoning Appeals at the front desk, so people, citizens, anybody can come and look up a BZA case. There is no reason for anybody to say that they don't have access to our files because the computer is now on the desk and being uploaded with all of our files. We're working our way backwards, but right now I think we're up to about 2200. So that should not be an issue going forward in terms of people having access to the files. So the BZA mission comes directly from the fiscal year 2027-2030 financial plan, emphasizing public interests, ordinance integrity, and equitable land use decisions. The BZA's mission and role is that we are a quasi judicial body that administers the Detroit zoning ordinance. We hear appeals, variances, and exceptions, and land use modifications. We ensure decisions are upheld according to the spirit and intent of the ordinance, and we support neighborhood and commercial stabilization. The fiscal year budget reflects a leaner staffing model and a significant decline in projected revenues compared to 2026. One thing that you have in your packet, council members, is uh this graph, and this breaks down the BZA cases by district. Uh it is not based on the fiscal year, it's based on January to December. Um we're working on getting that adjusted to the fiscal year. So you will see in 2023 how many cases we had, how many we had in 2024, and the significant drop in 2025 and 2026 is continuing that that trend. So our budget snapshot, our total expenditures are $57,100. Our total revenues are $53,040. Net text tax costs are $5,000 $118,768, and we have three full-time positions. The personnel and benefit accounts for 71% of the total budget. Contractual services primarily are court reporting remains a major cost driver. Salaries and wages around $308,000, employee benefits, about $98,000. Professional and contractual services, 141,000, operating supplies, 4,500 operating services, 18,250. The reduction from four full-time to three full-time increases the workload on remaining staff and impacts our processing capacity. So this position that we have been trying to fill is now frozen. Revenue from sales and charges for services dropped by more than half in fiscal year 2027, which is why I wanted you to see that chart. Fiscal year 2026, the adopted revenues 112 proposed for 2027, 53,000.
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