About half of
Jacksonville code inspections aren't done on time, uncollected fines
for violations total $6.2 million and reporting deficiencies make it
difficult to track if problems are corrected properly, a city audit
found.
The audit, released today by City Council Auditor Bob Johnson,
showed that poor supervision, outdated equipment and incomplete
record keeping are causing the problems.
"It's the case of an agency that needs a lot of direction,"
Johnson said.
The Property Safety Division, part of the Department of
Neighborhoods, is responsible for enforcing city standards against
abandoned buildings, yards overgrown with weeds and trash-strewn
lots. The division was expected to make over 110,000 inspections
this year, division chief John Curtain said in the audit.
"That function of government should be done correctly,
efficiently and on time and I can tell you that's not being done,"
said Councilwoman Lynette Self.
Mayor John Delaney said he has no plans for personnel changes but
did not rule out moves until he has finished reading the audit.
"This audit is despite a massive increase in funding the past
four or five years," Delaney said.
Asked if that worried him, Delaney said, "It shows the magnitude
of the problems."
Over the past several years, Delaney has added a call center to
better respond to complaints. The number of inspectors has risen
from 20 to 42. Annual funding has risen from about $2.7 million to
$3.7 million this year.
The audit showed inspections are not always done when scheduled
and that some cases are closed even though the problem is not fixed.
The auditors re-inspected 250 properties where cases were closed by
the department and found that in 7 percent of the complaints, the
problem hadn't been resolved.
In the most glaring example in the audit, a code officer handled
a complaint about a trailer that had been burned out and was unsafe.
The case was closed, indicating the trailer had been replaced. A
check by Johnson's staff -- and an accompanying photograph in the
audit report -- showed the burned trailer was still on the property.
"When you have this kind of lack of enforcement, then anything
goes out there," Councilwoman Suzanne Jenkins said. "It becomes a
Wild West mentality and that's how neighborhoods die."
Because of a poor database, Johnson's staff couldn't tell how
much the city was owed for back fines. A collection agency the city
had worked with said the total was $6.2 million, according to the
audit.
"Now wouldn't that pay for a lot of training and technology,"
Jenkins said.
When fines aren't enforced, property owners don't have the
incentive to fix the problems because there are no repercussions,
said Rita Reagan, a volunteer with Springfield Restoration and
Preservation.
"Even if they do fine people, they never collect the fine and the
houses continue to disintegrate because nothing is ever done to the
owner," Reagan said.
