2027 budget · proposed Statement of Legislative Intent

Make Seattle Housing Enforcement Measurable.

The request is not for Council to accept STLCA's conclusions. The request is for SDCI to provide the structured information Council needs to measure complaint-based housing enforcement itself.

Core principle: missing information must be distinguished from an event that did not occur. A blank inspection field should not be reported as “no inspection” unless the City can establish that no inspection occurred. A Closed or Completed status should not be reported as verified correction unless the record establishes correction and verification.

What the SLI asks SDCI to show Council

1 · Complaint history

What happened, and when?

Receipt, classification, first substantive response, physical inspection where applicable, administrative contact where no inspection is needed, enforcement actions, correction deadlines, reinspections, compliance and closure.

2 · Closure meaning

Why was the case closed?

Define Closed, Completed and other statuses; distinguish verified compliance, no violation, no contact, lack of access, withdrawal, duplicate, referral, administrative closure and other outcomes.

3 · Related records

Can Council follow one property?

Provide stable links among complaints, NOVs, citations, emergency orders, tenant-relocation records, RRIO records and repeat-property activity.

4 · Financial enforcement

What was assessed and collected?

Distinguish authorized penalties, amounts assessed, billed, collected, adjusted, waived, referred for collection and still outstanding.

5 · Data ownership

What do the public fields actually mean?

Identify source systems, field definitions, business/technical owners, transformations, QA procedures and a public change history — including the history of the LastInspDate field.

6 · RRIO relationship

How do the systems connect?

Explain how complaint-based enforcement relates to RRIO, City/private inspections, registrations, certifications and later complaints or enforcement.

Why this is a budget question

Staffing arguments need measurable workload and outcome data.

Council should not have to decide whether housing enforcement needs more staff, fewer staff, different technology, new fees or new renter protections without being able to measure what happens to the work already entering the system.

“What happens after a renter reports a housing problem?”
What STLCA is asking Council to do today

Sponsor the SLI. Require the measurement.

The proposed SLI asks for definitions, authoritative dates, closure reasons, property linkage, enforcement outcomes, data ownership and an implementation plan for routine public reporting. It does not presume every complaint requires an inspection, and it does not presume wrongdoing.