Rental Housing Board Hears Report on $4.6 Million Rent Stabilization Department Budget

On Wednesday, the Pasadena Rental Housing Board heard a report on the city’s Rent Stabilization Department’s first-ever fiscal year operating budget. The Department is recommending an operating budget of $4,696,732 for 2025 and authorizing the addition of eight new full-time equivalent employees, which will increase the department’s total full-time equivalents to 17.

The new positions would include two management analysts, a housing counselor, a public information specialist, two hearing officers, a new legal assistant, and a new customer service representative.

The department will be funded by revenues collected from the $214.71 Rental Housing fee on all rental units subject to the City Charter Amendment.

“There’s a number of considerations that were put in place to formulate this budget,” said Phillip Leclair, executive director of the Rent Stabilization Department. “One is we do have more accurate expenditures now we know what the Board’s doing, we know how much our meetings are costing us. We have a temperature on how much we’re spending and advertising and other kinds of things that we’re doing to start up. We also have expenditures that we anticipated but we haven’t spent yet, but we know we’re going to have to spend them such as the rental registry. We also are anticipating next year’s costs. We’re going to have more staff, we’re going to have a lot more advertising and marketing and more community outreach. And so all that does have some costs we want to make sure isn’t part of the budget. And then also we have additional staff.”

According to Leclair, things are going to ramp up as the rent registry comes online followed by petitions and hearings.

“We want to make sure we have the resources necessary to execute on all the things that the City Charter Amendment requires. There was also a few programs and services that have been in discussion over the last few months from the Board as well as some that staff have also recommended, and those are also included in the budget.”

The programs include a legal services program, relocation assistance services, a hearing officer and a cost of service study.

“I’m very skeptical of us starting a legal services program for tenants,” said Commissioner Arnold Siegel. “We’re supposed to be not just representing tenants but representing the community. I don’t think maybe we’ll figure out a way to do this, that it doesn’t look like we’re completely abandoning our neutral role, which is what we’re supposed to have as far as I’m concerned.”

Siegel said he needed more information before he could endorse the program.

The recommended Rental Housing Fee includes $1.8 million in estimated expenses that are anticipated to occur in the current fiscal year.

All revenues to support the start-up of the new department in Fiscal Year 2024 as well as the operating expenses for Fiscal Year 2025 are incorporated into the Fiscal Year 2025 Rental Housing Fee.

In total, $2,249,582 will be used for personnel. According to the staff report, an additional $1,596,327 will be used for services and supplies, $760,823 will go to internal services charges, and $90,000 will be used for capital outlay.

The final recommended budget will go to the Board at a meeting next month and the City Council’s Economic Development and Technology Committee during budget hearings.