TL;DR (generated · confidence: high)

Package 23,602 funds two limited-term Development Review Analyst III positions ($425,000 from General Fund via transfers) within the Permit Improvement Team for one year (through June 30, 2026). The PIT supports ongoing process improvements, website redesign, Project Dox implementation, and fee coordination for Portland Permitting & Development to reduce permit timelines, improve customer experience, and advance housing and economic recovery goals.

Key points (each cites a PDF page):

Two FTE limited-term Development Review Analyst III positions funded at $425,000 total from General Fund via Fund Transfers, one-year request through June 30, 2026. (p. 736)
Permit Improvement Team (PIT) is a four-person team established to centralize permitting process improvements and change management across multiple bureaus. (p. 737)
Current permitting system described as 'disjointed, unpredictable, expensive, confusing and slow'; PIT projects aim to reduce timelines, increase efficiency, and improve customer experience. (p. 737)
Key ongoing projects include website redesign, business process analysis and workflow improvements, full Project Dox implementation across PP&D teams, and permitting metrics development using data governance. (p. 737)
Fee Coordination & Consistency Project will inventory current fee assessment, compare with peer jurisdictions, and ensure transparent and equitable fees across review teams. (p. 737)
2022 City Advanced Building Permit Reforms audit found substantive progress on recommendations but noted less progress on speed of permit reviews and customer complaint policy, concluding sustained staffing remains necessary. (p. 738)
Empowered Communities Program currently serves limited customer base with coordinator services; does not have capacity to meet current demand. (p. 739)
Website improvements and customer routing initiatives informed by Black, Indigenous, and people of color customers to ensure equitable access to permit information and services. (p. 739)

💰 $425,000 · 👥 2.0 FTE · 4.0 FTE · 📋 Permit Improvement Team (PIT) · Portland Permitting & Development · Empowered Communities Program · Website Coordination, Design, Implementation and Content Cleanup · Business Process Analysis and Implementation of Workflow and Process Improvements · Project Dox implementation · 🏛️ Portland Permitting & Development · Planning and Sustainability · Bureau of Technology Services (BTS)

23,602

Source: PDF pp. 736-739 · raw: 736 · 737 · 738 · 739

Breadcrumb: 4 ced › Comm-EcDev-DPs › Package Details › 23,602

23,602 - Permit Improvement Project - Limited Term Development Review Analyst III (2) Service Area Community & Economic Development DCA Donnie Oliveira Bureau Name Portland Permitting & Development Director David Kuhnhausen Funding Type Name General Fund Addition Status: Recommended Package Desc Expense Recommended Total Personnel $425,000 $425,000 Revenue Recommended Total Fund Transfers - Revenue $425,000 $425,000

The Permit Improvement Team (PIT) was established to centralize the effort and accountability for improving how the city works to deliver a high quality and responsive service to customers. PIT is a four-person team charged with facilitating discrete projects, cross-pollinating process improvement efforts, and working as change management agents. The team works across bureaus and service areas to build city-wide awareness and solutions for permit improvement work to achieve efficiency and interconnectivity. Continuous improvement work for the business operations that support permitting will always be needed to ensure a high-quality customer experience. The original intent of this project was for the PIT FTE and portfolio work to be handed off or embedded in the appropriate existing teams such as Planning and Sustainability for the code and policy work and Permitting & Development for the data and process improvement work. PIT has been preparing and moving forward with the intention to hand off projects beginning in January 2025. However, current internal capacity does not exist outside of the Permit Improvement Team to support these efforts and the implementation of ongoing projects including: --Website Coordination, Design, Implementation and Content Cleanup— Collaborative work with BTS and PP&D to design and implement a user-friendly website using plain language that supports customers and their ability to complete projects. --Business Process Analysis and Implementation of Workflow and Process Improvements— Work with PP&D teams to review existing business processes and identify improvements that support effective and transparent reviews, increase customer satisfaction, and meet city-wide timeline goals. Facilitate implementation of prioritized changes. --Full Use of Project Dox Across All PP&D Teams— Implementation of a Project Dox workflow, supporting an aligned process with the Building, Public Works and Land Use review teams. Increased transparency for staff and customers which will decrease review time and increase efficiencies. --PP&D Permitting Metrics— Building a culture of using data to inform decisions to recognize what is working and where focus is needed to drive improvement. Implementing data governance standards across bureaus. --Fee Coordination & Consistency Project— Inventory of current fee assessment and collection. History and context of current process and applications. Comparison with peer jurisdictions. Goal is for customers to have a clear, consistent, equitable and transparent fees across review teams. --Initial Project Consultation Opportunities— Clear understanding of scope and cost of existing offerings. Identification of which projects require consultation to prevent delays and additional costs to the customer. Comparison with peer jurisdictions. Implementation of new program. --Customer Routing— There are also several significant projects that have been identified but delayed due to the uncertainty of available capacity and skills. All projects are aimed at reducing timelines, increasing efficiency and improving customer experience. The budget request for FY25/26 is a one-year request that proposes funding for two FTE to support the completion of the elements outlined above to ensure a successful transition for Portland Permitting & Development and the ongoing improvement work. Service Impacts Our current permitting system is disjointed, unpredictable, expensive, confusing and slow. There are many reasons for these results. The city has invested time and focused follow-through on the identification of the root causes of existing challenges and barriers experienced by the public

Our current permitting system is disjointed, unpredictable, expensive, confusing and slow. There are many reasons for these results. The city has invested time and focused follow-through on the identification of the root causes of existing challenges and barriers experienced by the public applying for building permits. This has created a body of improvement work that is currently in process. The work in process is ongoing and unfinished. The project is staffed by limited term staff and the funding will expire June 30, 2025. The original intent of this investment was that these staff would be relocated and embedded permanently in the areas where projects could be positioned for long-term impact, effectiveness, and results. Providing development permits is a foundational and essential City service. The City has prioritized improving this service for Portland residents and the development community. Permitting is a foundational and critical component for supporting economic recovery and housing production. An efficient, understandable and effective building permitting process will in turn support the city-wide priority of a healthy, safe and thriving built environment. In early 2021, in response to an audit of permitting services, Commissioners Dan Ryan and Mingus Mapps appointed a cross-bureau Permitting Improvement Task Force (PITF) to identify solutions to delays and other concerns with the City's building permit processes. With Council bureau reassignments Commissioner Carmen Rubio joined as a Task Force co-chair. The Task Force – which included representation from all Council offices, permitting and planning bureaus, and the development community – adopted three overarching goals: -Reduce permitting timelines -Improve the customer experience -Improve performance management These goals were established to bring focus to identifying gaps, improving processes, establishing and implementing performance metrics, and creating systems improvements. In 2022 the city published an audit update - City Advanced Building Permit Reforms – which found that the city made substantive progress across all the recommendations but noted that less progress was achieved on the speed of building permit reviews and the customer complaint policy. They concluded that sustained, focused leadership and staffing remains necessary for these long-term reforms to result in a noticeable change for Portland's customers. In 2022 the Task Force provided additional specific recommendations to the City Council to make changes in the permitting structure, process and staffing to implement improvements, specifically: -Reorganize the development services teams in the four infrastructure bureaus to create cross- bureau teams with one manager. -Create and implement a regulatory process that works wholistically across bureaus and with policy makers including creation, implementation, compliance and evaluation. -Explore the feasibility of a single point of contact model for customers. -Provide one-time funding to increase capacity for planning and implementing Task Torce recommendations – the Permit Improvement Team. Since those recommendations work has ensued, and progress has been made but we still have a long way to go. These issues have been decades in the making and will require sustained effort to unravel and rebuild. Investment has been made in the Identification of the root causes to the challenges and barriers experienced by the public applying for building permits. Customers and staff have been engaged in solutions to address barriers. This has created a body of improvement work that is currently in process and is beginning to show positive and measurable outcomes. "Why now" is further accentuated by the pressing economic challenges and housing shortage in the

have been engaged in solutions to address barriers. This has created a body of improvement work that is currently in process and is beginning to show positive and measurable outcomes. "Why now" is further accentuated by the pressing economic challenges and housing shortage in the City of Portland. These are urgent and pressing issues and the permitting system directly impacts the ability to accelerate the solutions needed to address both. We are at a critical tipping point; staff have invested hours into identifying pinch points that can be addressed to improve workflow and create efficiencies – streamlining the system to improve timelines and enhance customer experience. Data is beginning to show improvement, customer feedback is less critical, and a new bureau has been founded to better serve staff and customers by coming together around a shared purpose. We know what the problems are, what is needed is the capacity and skills to follow through to tackle them. Historically there has not been the capacity, structure or consistent leadership to support the follow through and time needed to actualize authentic and impactful change. We now have all three of these elements. Without continued investment what would be missing in FY25/26 is the capacity to continue the support leadership and staff need to continue implementing systemic and process/workflow improvements. This has been available for the past 18 months through limited term funding for four FTE. Two of these FTE have skills sets and relationships that have provided the capabilities to provide business process analysis and project management. Retaining these FTEs for an additional year will produce results. Let's not lose this moment of alignment. Equity Impacts The newly formed Portland Permitting & Development has an opportunity to build a strong foundation (model) that establishes new systems and functions that serve the needs of all Portlanders equitably and effectively. While the resolution that created this new entity does not explicitly call out equity and culture, we know that City Council and city leaders are invested in racial equity through their establishment of city-wide racial equity goals and strategies, by adopting City- wide, bureau specific Racial Equity Plans, and supporting the creation of the People and Culture office within the Bureau of Human resources. The new organizational chart and budget workplan for PP&D will need to be implemented in conjunction with intentional, strategic approaches to innovative change and transition management, steeped in racial and disability equity practice. Current coordinator or single point of contact services are limited to managed projects which is a fee- based program, multi-family housing projects, and customers who are served by the Empowered Communities Program. This is a small percentage of total customers applying for permits. Additionally, the Empowered Communities Program does not have the capacity to meet current demand for service. Understanding what is needed to successfully apply for and receive a permit is an overwhelming process for many customers. Easy access to basic and non-technical information about what is needed to be truly equitable in how services are communicated and delivered. Improvements to our website is fundamental to achieving that goal. Website design and alignment of content will be informed by customers from the Empowered Communities Program to ensure that the user experience considers and incorporates perspectives of customers who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, and persons with disabilities. Permit Improvement Team (PIT) works is partnership with the Equity and Policy Team in Portland Permitting & Development. They have been participants and advisors in every PIT project. How this impacts the work and will be measured is reflected in the focused expansion of customer access and support, integrating equity in the business process analysis work, and intentional inclusion of customers who represent Black, Indigenous, people of color and persons with disabilities. We have identified data that will assist in further delineating who is experiencing improved access and support. These baselines will enable us to further refine and adapt to better serve BIPOC customers.

Parent: Package Details · PDF: pp. 736-739