Kansas City Council Considers Rental Inspection Fee
Complaints from Kansas Citians about rotting floors, broken fixtures and black mold in rental units often make their way to City Hall. But short of condemning an entire building or advising renters on do-it-yourself remedies, officials currently can’t do much to help. Prompted by health officials and some neighborhood groups, Councilman Scott Wagner wants to give the city some better tools — and he wants to do it sooner rather than later. Wagner hopes fellow council members will agree by next Thursday to seek a November vote on an inspection fee for rental properties . His ordinance calls for landlords to pay $25 a year for each rental building they own — whether it’s a single-family home or a multi- unit apartment complex . The city would use the money to hire inspectors to respond to complaints from tenants and neighbors. Owner who failed to fix problems would be subject to higher re- inspection fees . Wagner’s urgency stems partly from worries that the Missouri legislature...