CANTON – The Canton Building Department’s operations have more than tripled over the past nine years.
The department, which spent $871,237 in 2015, took over code enforcement duties in 2017 and became responsible for mowing high grass at nuisance lots in 2019. It added a litter team this year, which is half funded by the city’s sanitation department, and has been tasked with handling the mayor’s alley cleanup initiative and expanding its demolition program.
J.R. Rinaldi, chief of staff for the city Building Department, said the department is on track to spend $3 million this year. The department’s revenue, which includes money it collects in building permit fees and a registration fee for rental housing units, averages $2.3 million a year, said Rinaldi during a presentation to Canton City Council on Monday.
With a 7-1 vote, Canton City Council on Monday approved raising the rental registration fee from $80 per unit to $110 per unit. The fee does not apply to homes where the homeowner lives or to homes owned by the Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority.