Panama City undergoes two renaming projects

PANAMA CITY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – Panama City recently underwent two renaming projects, which may come with some hidden costs.

Earlier this year the city changed the name of the Quality of Life Department to the Parks, Culture, and Recreation Department. Prior to “Quality of Life”, the department was called “Leisure Services”.

It changed right after Hurricane Michael 6-years ago.

City manager Jonathan Hayes says the new name more accurately reflects the division’s responsibilities.

Now the city is changing the Code Enforcement Division to the Code Compliance Division. Hayes says this name reflects a new customer service-oriented approach.

With any name change, there is usually a cost. So, how much are these changes costing taxpayers?

“There’s going to be some minimal expenses we need to update the vehicles and the uniforms and their badges and some of the internal stuff. But a lot of it we can do in-house. And so, you know, it’s not going to be a huge expense to the city. But branding is important. These code compliance inspectors are going to have very high-level visibility, much like our police officers and firemen. So, you know, a professional appearance and in all that they do is very important,” Hayes said.

Hayes was not able to put an exact cost on these changes.

Sign changes will be handled by the city’s in-house sign and vehicle shop. Any cost would come out of the city’s general fund’s operating budget.

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