Buffalo Raises Lead Paint Inspection Fees

Buffalo lawmakers recently doubled rent registration fees paid by landlords to raise money for more lead paint inspections in rental properties.

Rent registration fees are now set at $50 for single-family homes, up from $25, and $100 for two-family homes, up from $50.

The council approved the fee increase last week to help fund its proactive rent inspections program, which sends building inspectors into non-owner-occupied one- and two-family rental units to check for rent-related risks. lead paint and more.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s too excessive compared to the level of inspection that’s taking place or, frankly, the amount of rent that some of them are charging. I don’t think it’s a lot of money,” said Council President Christopher P. Scanlon.

The Rent Registry, an ordinance approved by the Council in November 2020, is a database for all single- and two-family rental housing occupied by non-owners in the city. The data collected includes the name and address of the owner and telephone numbers where the owner, or an agent of the owner, can be contacted at any time. Registration is renewable each year.

The decision to increase the registration fee follows criticism from local community groups earlier this year – including the think tank Partnership for the Public Good – who called on the city to inspect many more rental properties for of toxic lead paint, as required by its local PRI law. . Inspectors also check for infestations, safe exits, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, pipe leaks and much more.

Catherine Amdur, commissioner of the city’s Department of Permitting and Inspection Services, said last month that the PRI program was unsustainable. Funding is a problem and inspections are taking longer than expected, she said.

Amdur recommended that Council members revise the ordinances that establish the inspection program in 2020.

When the local PRI law was passed in 2020, the department became responsible for conducting interior and exterior inspections of an additional 36,000 rental units every three years, at a projected cost of $2.1 million per year.

But unlike other municipalities, such as Rochester, Buffalo’s PRI legislation did not include fees for property owners to cover the cost of inspections, city officials said.

Buffalo’s program now relies on $1 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan, which will run out by the end of 2026.

Before these increases, rent registration fees generated about $1 million a year, Amdur said.

Doubling the fee will pay for about 20 more inspectors to do that work, said Amdur, who was appointed commissioner after the PRI program was created.

Every year, thousands of children under the age of 6 are diagnosed with elevated blood lead levels in Erie County. Thousands more people are exposed to lead hazards in their homes every day.

Since at least the early 1990s, Buffalo has ranked among the nation’s worst cities for childhood lead poisoning — due to its aging housing stock and concentrated, segregated poverty.

The Erie County Health Department has designated nine ZIP codes in the city as communities of concern due to high rates of lead poisoning among children.

Lead has been banned in paint since 1978, but it remains one of the most common environmental toxins in young children.

Even in small doses, it can have serious health effects on children, including lowered IQ and learning and behavioral problems. In adults, lead exposure is linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, and kidney and nervous system problems.