City looks to re-establish position to investigate licensing issues
After unanimous consensus Wednesday, Cape Coral City Council will move forward with an ordinance for a licensing investigator classification.
Deputy Development Services Director Matthew Grambow said after the last discussion, the city refreshed the classification, which includes a 50/50 duty split between proactive field inspection and case management and auditing.
Field inspection for the position will include active construction site audits, checking permit validity, vehicle signage, and worker credentials. The case management and auditing side will focus on digital/print media auditing, fraud investigation, and administrative board prosecution.
The pay would range from $52,769.60 to $82,555.20, which is equal to a code compliance officer. Each would require a vehicle, computer, set of PPE, uniform, and phone totaling $41,720.81.
Grambow said the total year one cost estimate for reactivating the position is $125,603.31, which does not include fuel, printing, postage, and advertising/outreach costs.
In Fiscal Year 2025, building permits for the city sat at 30,057.
Assessing a $5 unlicensed contractor surcharge would have generated $150,285 in fiscal year 2025, paying for a full-time licensing investigator.
Mayor John Gunter said he asked staff and the city attorney to draft the proposed ordinance to have the $5 go into a special fund solely for unlicensed permitting. Fines also would go into the fund.
“It’s a funding mechanism solely for unlicensed contractors,” he said.
Gunter said in subsequent years that costs would come down because some, such as a vehicle, a computer and equipment, do not recur every year.
He proposed that they start with one position and reevaluate after the first year.
“I would hate to hire two people and really not have the demand there for those employees. That would be my recommendation,” he said.
The council gave the same consensus to move forward with one at the beginning.
“There is certainly a need to do something beyond what is currently happening – allowing for the state to police it is not good. One is the right place to go with this,” Councilmember Joe Kilraine said.
Council consensus votes provide staff direction. A vote at a regular city council is required to pass the measure. An ordinance also requires public hearings.
City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said if the position passes it would take about three months to bring an investigator or investigators on board, with an October ramp up at the start of the new fiscal year.
The ordinance will be brought back at a future voting meeting.
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