we have a handle on that one. >> with that, i would like to know what services does our department offer? we have the disabled access service division and you can call, but what kind of service would be available? >> 95% of the work completed by that division are complaints on existing properties. we do not go out proactively. someone will call and complain about a property and we have one individual who has 10 properties and once our field inspector to go out and ride up notices of violation of these properties. >> this is not for businesses to call? >> we have technical services

where our inspector resides and they are also trained in accessibility and they can help the customer that wants advice, and that is what we are required to do by law. we do have that. >> i would like to thank the director and the participation of the small business from the mayor's office to clarify these things because this was a concern that was raised by some of the businesses that have been hit with these lawsuits. i think anything we can do, including getting more people certified in our own -- i know there will be hearings that will come out and i think a lot of small business people will be attending. any thing we can do to educate

-- even if we cannot offer all the services they want, if we could offer an inspection when they have a plan and want to do some modification and we can say this is the right way, that would go a long way. they are willing to pay. that is the other thing -- they are willing to pay for inspection services that we can supply. any thing we can do, we inspect and we charge. they are willing to do that, but they want a definitive way of knowing they are doing the right thing and they're just not paying for something that's just going into the air. >> may be the private inspectors

are also looking for some approval method. maybe there should be a process where they can do inspection and come to the building department and say can you guys look at this and reveal improvements? maybe that is what might have to happen. >> the building officials have taken a hard stand on this that inspectors plan but will do construction plans around the issues that are construction- related because we cannot be responsible for the non- construction ask because it's not just all covered under the code. sometimes a private individual

will say you need to do something -- a classic as we always have the 30 inch counter for the disabled and the minute be inspector leaves, and immediately that is taken up with equipment and it is not available and that we have no control over that period it is a minor things and we can't tell link electronics, inc. model number: pdr-885 software version: 3.0c i concur r that the support is there but they have to get everything and that's the world we live in and a cross check that and enforce that. it would be difficult for the department to get into this

where they become the plan drawers and everything. they come in, they follow the cold -- follow the code, and make sure it is enforced. >> we have a handout for small businesses we give to new tenants to we have developed before and we are still giving out. >> for me personally, the elephant in the room is -- i've talked to a lot of people who are active in the community. the black eye that has happened is of these lawsuits have been happening and i know three or four that i will mention their names that have gone through this. three of them are closing and a lot of that is generated by this -- they cannot afford to meet it and there's a sense in that

community that they are just out there and they have nowhere to turn on this issue and a inherited this issue and the -- they get blamed a first. the department is going to do whatever they can, but they cannot bring it home. i would like to see a bigger discussion on that. i'm not sure what will we could play, but i know other cities have limited the amount of lawsuits who are put out there for just making financial gains under the umbrella they are doing good. that's my own personal feeling -- things like that to show the community the uphill battle you have on spaces that have been there forever. i would like to see if we could

take this further. if we could open up this pandora's box, we could end up with a situation worse than we already have. but we should let the business community know we hear their pain and we would like to remedy their pain as best we can and give them the expertise they need because a lot of these businesses are going out of business because of this. if we wanted some testimony, i can generate some testimony here and it's quite shocking what happened to these businesses and what they have to go through to comply and a lot of the irony is they were trying to comply. maybe for future business we can put that on there and talk about that. thank you. >> is there any public comment on item number nine? item 10, directors report. update on dbi finances.

>> i'm with the department of bill the inspection. it will make this short and sweet because i know it is pretty late. we are still seeing a steady flow of revenue from charges for services. we are getting larger projects which tom will go over in his presentation. we are not actually -- we have only received $4.8 million of the $8.5 million because this comes through the property taxes which as many of us know where to last week. next month, we should see better figures on whether that will

actually come to fruition. we are projecting it will. as you can see from the chart, 96% of the revenues have already come through. this is based on the budget. in terms of expenses, 75% of the year has gone by and we have an extended in terms of what our largest categories, which is employee salaries and fringes. currently, we have 33 requisitions and we are going for through the recruitment process. we expect to see that as we get

the positions filled that number will be extending more, but we are projecting a $1.4 million surplus. the other figures are very minor. we are projecting we will and the year under budget by $1.7 million which, combined with the revenues will result in $5.3 million. much of this needs to go into a deferred credit. i did a quick and dirty analysis and looking at this year in terms of what has to be put aside in order to continue working on the projects that are front and in terms of their

payments, we are looking at about five months worth of total expenditures being able to be funded through our fund balance which means we are quite below what we want to be to cover unforeseen circumstances like a major emergency or something similar. any questions? >> five months -- what is the figure we are trying to get to to have set aside for such emergencies? >> the rule of thumb is six months. but we would like to have a little greater because if there is a downturn in the economy, all indications are it will continue to grow but if we have

another swing like we had two years ago, we want to make sure we have the revenue and all bets are off if we have an earthquake and have a major emergency because fema only pays for overtime and we would have to help with the growth and rebound in the community. we had a situation where we had one day two years ago in terms of being able to cover our expenses. we want to make sure as we go along that we have sufficient funds to do the work that is prepaid and we don't end up cutting into other revenues. >> is that a figure of $12

million? it is about $18 million. >> as the value of new construction impact you in any way? >> many of the fees we get are based on valuation. to the extent devaluation goes up, the fis also go up. there is a correlation if the higher valuation, the more complex a project is, the more we have to do in terms of plan review. the more we would have to do in terms of the inspection. yes, we get more revenues for

the higher valuations. >> if your valuation of 2011 was lower, that impacts your overall outlook? >> yes. >> at what point do you see a trend in all of this? that is a good question. >> our fees are not based on valuation. it's based on actual time. we actually when we did our study had consultants sit down with our staff and a tech projects of different sizes and how long it took to check its. how long did it take an inspector to go out in the field and inspect it? our fees are based on a nexus. i want to get the word valuation out of it. that is just used to determine

the level of service needs within the department based on an hourly rate. you are paying for the hourly service on the larger projects, however, we have found you could have a small project and an inspector can expend a lot more time on than a larger project due to the complexity of the smaller project and the contractor or homeowner doing the job. it had to be all balance out and that is why we had to hire an outside firm to do it. we did the study based on 2006 numbers and it came out and was approved in 2008. we have not raised fees since then due to the economy. >> thank you. >> on the first page of the

report, there is an expenditure recovery. >> that is when we do work for another department. we do work for the mta. >> how come there is a negative? >> it's a long story. the way accounting works here is that it is treated as a reduction to expenditures instead of as revenue. technically, we extend and do a service and they pay gas. the way this city does it is weak gross be expenses and net a reduction to expenditures.

it is one of the various accounting measures that can be done. >> does this come from the general fund money? >> planning pays us for a collection of their revenues, but in their general fund, a small amount of general fund, most of the others are and t a -- those are the major ones and they are not there or fee based. >> thank you. >> update on proposed legislation. >> good morning, commissioners. just to give you a quick update based on what we have put in

your packet -- the public arts trust fund has now been sent to the mayor and we expect that to take legal effect around the 10th or 11th of may. that will involve additional collection unit work by the fee collection unit. supervisor chu put forth legislation for office sought improvements and that passed yesterday. the idea there is in the month of may we have a pilot program to see if more small businesses will come in for wanting replacements. the department is waiving the normal fees based on a three- year review that might cost 12 or $15,000. we will have to monitor this to see exactly what it does cost in

case there is a proposal to go forward and make this a more regular program. you heard from supervisor wiener a little while ago to approve the efficiency unit and that was favorably recommended by the code advisory committee. that is about the end of what is going on right now for local matters. i am still waiting for an update from supervisor david c hiu for a certain space would have to meet certain requirements and the building permit would be held until those measures are taken. but that is still in the process according to the supervisor's office. on the state legislative side, most of these have not changed much from what i have given you before.

you might be interested in the fact that the one talking about increasing training standards has dropped the earlier idea of insisting people where identifiable uniforms which was very much opposed by california building officials. however, they are requiring a code enforcement officers would have to take and pass certain examination requirements in order to carry out a peace officer light duties. that is still very much in the works. california building officials are meeting tomorrow and reviewing a number of these legislative matters. we will possibly have more details on that at the next meeting. 1994 is another measure that deals with ada, is to have

planning department to make decisions that are in the jurisdiction of building departments and of such, they and most of the other building officials are opposing this. i have been told it is not going to be pushed forward this year, understanding there has been quite a bit of pushed back by building officials saying this is really not the way to go. the final thing i will mention -- that left some handouts on the table the mayor put out a press release yesterday, encouraging legislation that the attorney general is pushing forward on behalf of mortgage protection, one part deals exclusively with fighting blight. two of the bills give us more

tools and charge penalties up to three times what current penalties are in order to provide incentives for property to be maintained if it is no longer going to be occupied due to foreclosure proceedings. i think that is about it. >> i just wanted to add v discourse on the code enforcement officers. every inspector call every engineer is a code enforcement officer that deals with the codes. that is why the building officials are taking such a hard stance on everyone wearing a uniform. that would be in the clerks to make decisions would wear uniforms and that is of little bit much for some large jurisdictions. los angeles put up the biggest fight. >> it was reported in the paper

that supervisor cohen introduced legislation about blighted properties and foreclosed properties customer >> that is tied in with this package on a local level and i did bring a copy of that legislation. >> this is local enabling legislation? >> yes. this is on the 30 day calendar and probably will not come up for another month in committee. >> thank you. >> update on permit tracking system. >> we are doing really well on the permit tracking system. we have met with and gone over what the requirements are for our configuration as it was mentioned a couple of times here.

we have communicated our needs and they are recognizing the configuration documents that we are working through signing off and they will start of actual program and configuration. they have met with all areas of our staff and the worked through items that have interface in terms of having information flow and people flow between planning and our departments and fire and dpw. we are doing quite well working on the system to improve our processes and you will be happy with that and more importantly, that our citizens will be happy with it.

we are working on a program for cash management. we have been working with the treasurer tax collector and we are going to have additional cash drawers to our stations where people come up to pay us so we will be able to move things forward more quickly and we will increase the accountability. that will need to work with our existing system and have to work with the new system. we are, as i speak, spending the whole day with the vendor to make sure what we need is going to be provided. >> item 10 b, update on major projects.

>> good morning, commissioners. you received an update on the major project -- is good news -- more money coming end. any question you have -- also, yesterday, we had a pickup for one of the project. they paid half a million dollars on 505 howard. you can see the cranes, the tower crane. that is why the construction is booming for the big project. >> in reference to your issue of staffing, if we were going to your institutional memory, where would you put this volume of

major projects in the past? >> >> 2007, roughly counting, we have 60 roughly including engineer and inspector, but in this moment for us, we are about half the staff. >> with respect to this volume of 54 major projects, in 2007, which you have had 54 major projects? >> i cannot tell you the exact number, but we had a little bit more than that, maybe 20% more?

>> you are dramatically understaffed to address the volume? >> the number of staff is substantially lower. >> thank you. any more questions? >> thank you. update on status and activation. >> as you know, we were looking at implementing this last november. we have done quite a bit of work in terms of making sure staff wasn't available and was in the right place. we have now talked over and are working less the deputy director on what he envisions

an we have some minor hardware and software issues we are working through. we are trying to finalize the documents we will provide to the public and get them translated into cantonese and spanish because the city requires we provide our documents in three different languages. in terms of what we are looking at, we are looking at three or four weeks down the line. we don't want to put out the notification to people we're going to implement until we get a really good idea of what we are facing in terms of the translation services. >> thank you.