Monday, October 05, 2009

Charlotte rental property rules update

The Community Safety Committee of the Charlotte City Council plans a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, in Room 280 of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center to discuss a revised plan for a rental ordinance aimed at reducing crime.

The plan requires statistical analysis in order to aim only at those properties that are giving police and nearby residents headaches. It also estimates enough revenue from fees on those properties to pay for two civilian staffers at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department to administer the program.

And the plan calls for the use of existing property tax records to notify and find property owners.

It also establishes a rental property review board, with seven members, "representative of the residential rental, tenant and homeowner community."

A few quick numbers from the plan:
$143,434.83: Salary plus benefits for the two employees. That includes $5,721.95 for N.C. state retirement and $3,576.22 in 401K contributions.
$37,000.00: The cost of two Chevy Malibus
$4,000.00: The cost of two laptops and licenses (I wonder if this estimate is too low; make sure the employees access to expensive Lexis/Nexis subscriptions, and perhaps their ability to find the property owners behind corporations holding some of these properties could improve).
$229,180.00: Total estimated fees from the program, affecting 587 properties.

Background:
Ideas after a letter about the ordinance from the Eastside Political Action Committee
Holding property owners accountable

No comments: