Council approves rental inspection program 

Springfield City Council on Nov. 3 unanimously gave the green light to a rental license and inspection pilot program for some 1,500 units in the West Central Neighborhood Service District. 

The legislation calls for enforcement to commence March 23, 2026. 

West Central was chosen for the pilot because of its high concentration of rental properties and the 102-year average age of its housing stock, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. The program will target 1,541 single-family and duplex rental units with the goal of improving safety and quality of rental housing, said Martin Gugel, director of Building Development Services for the city, in an Aug. 12 presentation to council. 

At the time, Gugel said four months of preparation – including the hiring of a dedicated inspector and office administrator for the program – would be followed by inspections to take place over a 12-month period, with two months for data review at the end. Council will then decide whether to enact the program citywide. 

The only hitch for the measure that passed unanimously this week was its price to the owners of the rental units – an annual $35-per-unit licensing fee, with follow-up inspections to start at $50. The program’s one-time startup cost, including vehicle, technology and office needs, is estimated at $80,000. The annual cost for the pilot is estimated at $238,000, with $69,000 of revenue projected from license and reinspection fees. 

Councilmember Monica Horton pointed out that the city allocated money in its current budget to fund the rental license and inspection program. Specifically, in an amendment to the budget bill proposed by Councilmember Brandon Jenson, just over $458,000 was reallocated from renovations to the first floor of the Busch Municipal Building to pay for the program. 

At the Nov. 3 council meeting, Gugel replied to Horton’s query by saying the initial budget request was based on an educated guess.  

When asked by Horton whether costs would be covered if council put forth an amendment to waive the fee, Gugel said that was hard to know. If more work is required for the department than anticipated, he said, the cost could be higher.  

No motion was made to eliminate the fee before the measure’s passage. 

Horton is not alone in questioning the fee. Members of the Greater Springfield Apartment & Housing Association, a trade organization for the rental housing industry, have objected to the expense. 

Brent Brown, founder and CEO of Entrust Property Solutions LLC and president of the SAHA board, questions whether the city has a nuisance property problem at all, with BDS data from 2023 showing a handful of violators from among tens of thousands of rental units, and none from his organization. 

“We don’t want to have any nuisance properties, and if there are properties that are violating the code, certainly as it relates to life safety or other maintenance-related issues, they need to be addressed,” Brown said in an interview. 

He added that his organization is not opposed to rental inspections. 

“These property owners that frankly are making the rest of us look bad need to be held accountable,” he said. 

Brown said his organization represents close to 20,000 units, and none of those owners have been identified as being part of the problem. If the pilot is approved to go citywide, Brown said, his members would be on the hook for $700,000 per year. 

“That’s pretty costly for our membership,” he said.