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The city Development Department will receive additional city support after the expiration of American Rescue Plan Act funding that has supplemented the department's budget in recent years.
The Development Department budget booklet presented to the City Council outlines many of the department's projects, and Crystal Surdyk, city development department director, said every step of any project requires administration, coordination and follow through. Surdyk also briefly talked on the city's historical funding allocation to the department, also noting their request has increased substantially for the next year following the ending of ARPA funding. She acknowledged both Mayor Kim Ecklund and Comptroller Erika Thomas for their work in helping the department with their budget, and noted the significant financial strain the city is currently under.
Surdyk acknowledged the work that has been done and is still being done by the City Council, and said what is proposed for the DOD budget for 2027 is a starting point.
"While the proposed increase will not immediately provide additional staffing and operational capacity we ultimately need, it represents an important step forward towards establishing a more sustainable financial foundation for the department," Surdyk said. "This is a beginning. I think we need to really consider the investment into the department as a strategy."
Surdyk added the department is working to diversify its funding and grant administration costs, but that is not easy to do as most funding sources do not come with a lot of administration fees. While the department will keep looking for ways to do that, Surdyk said they are asking for the city's help to be able to continue to sustain the department.
Council noted that the department does a lot for the city, and the proposed budget is proposing the bare minimum. It was also noted that the department could use more code enforcement officers, but that that is expensive. A request for proposals has also been sent out for an attorney for the department for 12 months, focusing specifically on things like Housing Court and legal cases that could be filed against absentee landlords.
"The department's work affects whether homes remain safe, whether properties return to productive use, whether businesses can invest, and whether the city can make full use of outside resources," Surdyk said. "Our request is about aligning those responsibilities with the capacity needed to carry them out."
Surdyk noted that development is part of public safety, emphasizing the importance of public safety, particularly with the city's ongoing blight and other issues. She added there are other aspects that are thought of first, such as police, fire and EMS, but that some of the department's focuses such as keeping homes safe and holding abandoned property owners accountable also connect to public safety.
"Accountability for neglected properties is something that we have been focusing on for the past few years," Surdyk said. "We have completely redesigned our process when it comes to prosecution of delinquent and negligent property owners. But, this takes a lot of time."
Additionally, Surdyk said neighborhood residents should not be left with the consequences of people who choose not to comply with the law when it comes to taking care of their properties, including chronic issues. Surdyk gave an example of this with one specific landlord the department has been trying to prosecute.
Surdyk addressed the hidden cost of blight in the city, costs that spread across departments and affect different department budgets, also noting that demolitions currently come in at just under $40,000 on average. Surdyk also briefly addressed opportunities, how the Development Department helps the city's tax base, and the department's wish to become proactive rather than reactive.
While a lot of strategy is happening, Surdyk said the department would like to be able to strategize more.
"For the past six years, I was appointed in 2020, and we've had a lot of challenges since then," Surdyk said. "Our responsibilities and project portfolio have evolved substantially since that time. Our work spans neighborhood stabilization, housing, building and code compliance, planning, grant administration, downtown investment, brownfields, and economic development."