Budget Hearing for BC Building Safety, Engineering, and Environmental Department - March 18, 2026

The Detroit City Council held the afternoon portion of its fiscal 2026 budget hearings on March 18, 2026, for the Building Safety, Engineering, and Environmental Department (BC). Director Dave Bell, with Deputy Director Raymond Scott, presented an overview of the department’s operations, performance statistics, and initiatives aligned with Mayor Sheffield's "Rise Higher" platform. Councilmembers raised significant concerns about rental property compliance, code enforcement, dangerous building processes, problem properties, and technology upgrades, resulting in several motions and directives.

Presentation and Performance Statistics

• Director Bell reported BC has 363 employees and an adopted baseline budget of $40.8 million for fiscal 2026. In 2025, the department performed over 261,000 inspections, issued 6,800 building permits, 25,000 trade permits, 400 certificates of occupancy, 1,800 business licenses, and 6,600 certificates of compliance. It also closed 270 illegal marijuana facilities and processed 32,000 improved Detroit issues. Business licenses for brick-and-mortar locations increased 35% two years in a row.

Rental Property Compliance and Enforcement

• Councilmember Renata Miller highlighted a large gap in rental registration and compliance, estimating that the city is missing over $20 million in annual revenue. Of an estimated 80,000 rental properties, only 11,474 have active certificates of compliance and 25,014 are registered, leaving nearly 68,000 without valid certificates. She criticized the lack of oversight and referenced the Kamaaya Davis tragedy as a result of unchecked conditions. Director Bell acknowledged the department’s failures, stated that rental compliance is currently at 14%, and committed to increasing certificates of compliance by 25‑35% in the next year. He also announced a partnership with a third‑party nonprofit to review BC processes, with the rental program as a priority.

Dangerous Buildings and Code Enforcement

• Councilmember Letitia Johnson questioned the dangerous building process, calling for better notification systems and a means to track property histories (similar to package tracking). She noted that some properties scheduled for demolition should be preserved. Director Bell agreed the process needs improvement and said he directed his team to send only properties that truly require demolition. Councilmember Scott Benson emphasized code enforcement, noting BC wrote 121,000 blight tickets in 2024 and 77,000 in 2025. He pushed for more inspectors and higher quality of life. Director Bell confirmed inspectors are in all districts and respond to complaints within 24 hours.
• Councilmember Denzel McCampbell raised enforcement issues regarding businesses in District 7, especially auto‑related businesses that repeatedly violate codes. Director Bell described actions including shutdowns with police and consent agreements for habitual violators, and acknowledged a "whack‑a‑mole" pattern.

Use of Technology and Artificial Intelligence

• Council President Pro Tem Holming Young Second advocated for adopting artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology (DLT) to streamline permitting, reduce administrative costs by 20‑40%, speed up processing by 50‑80%, and increase inspection efficiency by 30‑60%. He provided cost‑benefit projections: initial implementation $3‑10 million, annual costs $1‑3 million, net annual gain $7‑35 million, payback period 12‑24 months, and ROI of 3‑5 times within three to five years. Director Bell said BC is working with IT to integrate AI into the permitting process without eliminating jobs.

Brightmore Scattered Homes

• Council President James Tate requested an update on Brightmore scattered homes. Director Bell reported: 123 properties exist, 88 of which have certificates of compliance (62% compliance), 35 need compliance, and $31,000 is owed to BC. He stated the department is working with the Housing and Revitalization Department (HRD) on loan modifications to allow residents to purchase the homes.

Nuisance Abatement and Problem Properties

• Councilmember Mary Waters argued that BC should handle residential nuisance abatement rather than the Detroit Land Bank Authority, which she said relies heavily on lawyers. She asked about absorbing the land bank’s nuisance abatement program into BC. Director Bell was hesitant but open to further discussions. Councilmember Letitia Johnson raised concerns about two District 4 properties: Cover Girls on Whittier (a non‑conforming use presumed abandoned) and the Travel Inn, which she alleged operates illegal long‑term stays under a hotel license. Director Bell said the department works with the law department on these issues and noted that the Travel Inn holds a license and certificate of compliance.

Motions and Resolutions

• Councilmember Benson moved to place the entire BC budget into executive session. Approved without objection.
• Councilmember Benson also moved to add language to the closing resolution emphasizing the need for code enforcement and code compliance for a higher quality of life. Approved without objection.
• Councilmember McCampbell moved to include in executive session a discussion on code enforcement education, outreach, and accessibility, and to add language to the closing resolution about robust enforcement against habitual violators. Both motions were approved without objection.
• Councilmember Letitia Johnson moved to include language directing the Law Department (LPD) to work with BC on identifying vacant properties to prevent non‑conforming uses from reopening. Approved without objection.

Key Outcomes

• The entire BC budget was placed into executive session for further deliberation.
• Several motions were approved to add specific language to the closing resolution and to guide executive session discussions on code enforcement, education, and vacant properties.
• Director Bell committed to improving rental compliance by 25‑35% in the coming year and to working more closely with the law department and council on problem properties.