By Dustin Ensinger
Staff Writer
Moving the city of Reynoldsburg’s two part-time code enforcement officers to full-time would cost less than $20,000, according to Service Director Nathan Burd.
City officials are looking into the possibility of boosting the positions to full-time to better crack down on code violation and protect the property values of homeowners.
“I think it’s really an opportunity,” Councilman Scott Barrett, who asked Burd to look into the matter, said at a May 4 committee meeting.
Still, Burd said, making the positions full-time would not solve the city’s problem with turnover in the department.
At an hourly rate of $15.25 per hour, the wages rates do not compare well with nearby political subdivisions.
“Even if we were to do this, I don’t think it makes us super competitive,” Burd said.
Nonetheless, Burd said he hopes that a move to full-time would allow the city to attract more qualified candidates.
“Part of the overall goal of this is to attract someone that would want to make a career out of it,” Burd said.
Two full-time code enforcement officers would cost the city $113,730 annually, which includes benefits, and allow more comprehensive coverage of the city.
Currently, one position is open and the city’s only code compliance officer visits different areas each day.
Burd explored the possibility of boosting the department to four full-time code compliance officers. Each officer would cover a specific quadrant of the city, allowing the entire area to be covered on a daily basis.
Under that plan, the cost to the city would be an additional $113,730 each year.
However, there would be additional costs associated with that plan.
“If we go from two to four, we have to buy more trucks,” Burd said.
Either way, Burd said, he would rather move to two full-time staffers and evaluate the progress in the coming months before adding additional positions.
Liquor licenses
The service committee unanimously approved the transfer of two liquor licenses, despite the concerns of one councilman.
“How deep of an investigation did we do on this?” Barrett asked Chief Jim O’Neill.
O’Neill said the investigation was thorough.
