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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; The city collected approximately $55,000 more in rental inspection and license fees in 2020 than the previous year, according to figures provided by Mayor George Brown.
				The revenues failed to hit their budgeted targets, but the number of inspections and licenses increased even while the city was dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic, Brown noted.
				Brown attributed the higher totals to his administration&rsquo;s commitment to conduct the inspections. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to make sure we&rsquo;re providing a safe place for people to live,&rdquo; he said.
				During 2020, Brown&rsquo;s first year in office, the city&rsquo;s Health Department conducted 2,255 rental inspections that produced $169,050 in revenues. At $75 an inspection, the total should be $169,125. Brown Wednesday explained the number of inspections was accurate. By the middle of December when the inspections were done, one check had not yet come in, he said.
				Based on the data the revenue of $51,945 increased 44% from 2019 when there were 1,562 inspections and $117,105 in revenues. The city reached 84.5% of the $200,000 budgeted revenue for inspections in 2020, compared to 58.5% in 2019. 
				Wilkes-Barre Health Director Hank Radulski said four employees do the inspections as well as handle other duties.
				For the most part landlords are cooperative, Radulski said. &ldquo;They are required to have an inspection every two years, unless a tenant moves out after six months of being there,&rdquo; he said.
				An inspection must be done before a new tenant moves in, Radulski said.
				&ldquo;The responsibility is on the landlord&rdquo; to notify the city of a change in tenants, Radulski said. That&rsquo;s not always the case, he acknowledged, and said the city receives information from neighbors and others about new tenants moving in.
				The city also continues to work on getting a better count of the number of rental units, Radulski said. He said he was not sure of the total.
				In 2020 the city issued 500 rental licenses and collected $25,000 in revenues. The $50 fee is due every two years. In 2019, the city issued 440 licenses and collected $21,979.
				The city budgeted $30,000 in revenues from the licenses. It collected 83.3% of the budgeted revenue in 2020 and 73.2 % in 2019.

Wilkes-Barre reports rental inspection and license revenue increases in 2020