Minneapolis plan would raise fees on problem properties
Minneapolis landlords who do a bad job maintaining their properties and screening their tenants would face much higher city fees under a proposed ordinance that comes up for a vote next week.
A City Council committee on Tuesday voted to raise the license fees for properties that present the most problems for neighbors and inspectors. They would pay annual license fees four to five times higher than those properties in good standing.
Cecil Smith, who owns the real estate management firm Cornerstone Property Professionals, told City Council members Tuesday that the new approach makes sense.
"This ordinance is fairer, because it rewards good management and well-maintained property," he said. "And it ends our subsidization through our license fees of the significant compliance efforts that's made by Regulatory Services towards negligent and absentee owners, and it's time for them to pay their freight."
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
But Smith said the proposed ordinance isn't perfect. He said it gives the city's Regulatory Services department too much discretion over the fees.
About 4 percent of the city's rental properties fall into tier three — the category which would see the highest fees. About a third fall into tier two, and 64 percent are classified as tier one.
Houses, duplexes and triplexes in tier one would see their annual fees increase slightly under the new ordinance — from $69 to $70. Larger buildings would see their fees drop, assuming they remain in good standing. The city determined the fees by studying how much it costs to inspect each type of property.
Allan Butler, who owns 19 rental houses in north Minneapolis, is one of the landlords whose fees would go up under the proposed ordinance.
The city designated one of Butler's houses as tier three in January. The building on Girard Avenue North had seven unresolved inspection violations, and it was the subject of five police calls involving violent incidents, city spokesperson Matt Lindstrom said.
Butler said the city is targeting him because of a couple of "terrible tenants."
"They were causing trouble, pestering the neighbors, and I got rid of them both," Butler said. "But I still got the stigma there."