Township to Bring Inspection Services In House

With no perceived downside to the proposal, the council introduced an ordinance July 7 to not renew the contract with a third party provider for inspection services, choosing instead to bring them in house to reduce costs.

“We have had a third party provider for the last 30 years, and every year we pay out a substantial amount to that third party,” said Natasha Turchan, director of finance. “In addition, we also pay out if we waiver a fee to a volunteer organization because we still pay the third party for the services they provide.”

“The township absorbs the costs,” she added.

But bringing the services in house, Turchan said, the council would eliminate the need to pay a third party in all instances, especially saving the money when fees are waived.

The township would instead do all inspections, and fees would not be paid out, aside from the usual salaries.

“Over the last six years, we have waived a substantial amount, about $93,000 last year, and that had to be absorbed in this budget,” she said.

At this point, Turchan said, the township’s contract with its third party provider for inspections is expiring in August, and, if it is not extended, there will be substantial revenue generated for the town.

“If we maintain the staff in the coming years, we will generate revenue in the town and save in the budget,” she said. “Every year, we have a line about waived fees, and they cost money.”

Turchan said the township cannot just extend the contract while it reviews bringing the inspections in house because the state requires either awarding a contract or bringing it in house, nothing in between.

One of the main questions from the council concerned the ordinance’s statement of increasing construction fees, but Turchan said the amount that will be paid by residents and commercial businesses will actually be the same.

Instead, Turchan said, the way the fees are recorded will be different because the township will not be paying out to a third party, so the ordinance had to be rewritten.

“We can’t charge a fee for the inspection and then an administrative one, so it’s all rolled into one,” she said. “There are no increases in costs, it’s just that the costs are all rolled into one. What we currently have is a 46 percent administrative fee paragraph and a third party fee. We would be rolling them all together because we don’t have the third party.”

The council also questioned whether there will be enough people in the department to account for the inspections required throughout the township.

Turchan said the township is required by law to have two subcode officials, one for building and one for electric. Aside from those two, she said, the township has two inspectors.

“The number of inspectors can be reduced or added,” she said. “But if we want to maintain our credibility, we have to have the two subcode officials.”

Adding additional staff, Turchan said, would depend on the volume of inspections needed throughout the township. If more were needed, she said, they could try to bring them in part time, but that would depend on what kinds of services were needed.

Councilwoman Christine Henderson Rose said she was not convinced the work couldn’t be done by four part-time workers in order to save costs on health benefits, and she questioned the possibility of having shared services among towns for the inspection services.

Turchan said it would be difficult to find qualified inspectors who would work without benefits.

And as for shared services, she said, she doesn’t believe that is a possibility.

“With the volume of our permits, I don’t think there is another place that could loan us someone,” she said. “We keep the third party busy, so I don’t think we could find someone who could share with us for five days a week, 7.5 hours a day, which is what we use now.”

Councilman Dan Hayes said he is in favor of moving forward with the ordinance because it seems like a win-win for the township.

“We are not talking about raising fees to our commercial base or residents, but we would be able to execute and receive significant savings by bringing this in house,” he said. “And there will be greater accountability with in house work for the services people receive.”

“I am in favor of this, it helps the budget, which helps the residents,” he added. “And we will manage the fee structure so the department pays for itself.”

Public hearing for the ordinance will be held at 7:30 p.m. July 18.