The City of Tampa no longer has a “code enforcement” department. The enforcement of non-criminal city ordinances, codes, and regulations is under the purview of the Neighbor Enhancement division of the Neighborhood and Community Affairs Department. There seems to be some confusion or a misunderstanding of how the code enforcement process is meant to work. Legal and staff consistently repeat “compliance is the goal.” The way the process is structured now once a violation is determined and fees are assessed, they run through compliance. There’s a drumbeat of a complaint that it isn’t fair to have running fees because of the time it can take to file permits and rezoning applications. That fines should be stopped once the permit/application is filed fails to mention the giant loop hole the city recently closed by implementing these processes. There aren’t short term permits. You open a permit and it can sit there for years. You can file a rezoning application and then just drag your feet until you pawn the property off on to someone else who can start the whole process over.

But if the meter keeps running on the fines, there’s a financial incentive to complete the work. It can’t be escaped. And then—once the work is completed—the violator can go before the magistrate and explain their circumstances. Lay out why it took so long to complete along with financial circumstances and ask for a reduction in fees. Happens all the time. There’s also a proposed option for the city to basically settle 20% on the dollar plus hard costs in certain circumstances. Stuff happens, but it’s fixed. Ignorance isn’t an excuse, the code violation(s) existed and there are state statutes that govern a lot of what the city can and can’t do when it comes to code enforcement. Basically there are 2 options: change the code or encourage compliance.

Otherwise, where does the money come from to run the division of Neighborhood Enhancement? The adopted budget for Fiscal Year 2026 expenses for the division are projected at $13,132,376 with a revenue of $985,224. $9,922,128 of the expenses is personnel. Is that the most efficient way to spend $12 million dollars on “Neighborhood Enhancement?”

Or the city gets tough and starts making violators pay for the cost of administration of the division.