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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-02-2015 C12 Collection of Delinquent Code Enforcement FinesCity of San Luis Obispo, Council Agenda Report, Meeting Date, Item Number FROM: Derek Johnson, Community Development Director Prepared By: Anne Schneider, Chief Building Official SUBJECT: RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE COLLECTION OF DELINQUENT CODE ENFORCEMENT FINES RECOMMENDATION Adopt a Resolution (Attachment 2) authorizing the collection of delinquent code enforcement fines by the San Luis Obispo County Auditor by means of special assessments on the secured property tax role. DISCUSSION The Building & Safety Division enforces building, housing, zoning, stormwater and property maintenance provisions contained in the San Luis Obispo Municipal Code through its Code Enforcement Neighborhood Wellness Programs. When violations are confirmed, a Notice of Violation is issued to the property owner describing the violation(s) and providing a time period for correction. This is preceded by an effort to contact the property owner to discuss the violation(s) and obtain voluntary compliance through the issuance of a Notice to Correct. When the initial Notice of Violation is not effective in gaining compliance, an Administrative Citation may be issued pursuant to SLOMC Chapter 1.24. Fines associated with Administrative Citations range from $50, $100, and $200 per violation for the first, second and third citations, respectively, issued for property maintenance related violations. For other violations of the Municipal Code the fines are $100, $200, and $500 for the first, second and third citations, respectively. Each day a violation exists is considered a separate and distinct violation; therefore fines may be assessed on a daily basis for continuing violations beyond the third citation or in very delinquent or serious cases (ref: SLOMC 1.24.050 D). Code Enforcement Administrative Citation fines are issued to property owners who fail to correct violations within a reasonable time period after issued a Notice of Violation. The property owner is afforded the right to appeal both the Notice of Violation and the Administrative Citation itself. Unpaid fines become delinquent after sixty (60) days and, pursuant to SLOMC Section 1.24.140, Government Code sections 53069.4, and 38773.5, unpaid fines may be collected by a special assessment pursuant(Attachment 1). Special assessments require certification of the amount of the fines by the City Council. The proposed Resolution (Attachment 2) authorizes the San Luis Obispo County Auditor to assess the amounts due on delinquent fines as special tax assessments against the properties listed. A list of the outstanding fines for each property is attached hereto as Attachment 3. Each property owner has been sent a Notice of Proposed Special Assessment 10 days prior to the June 2, 2015 C12 C12 - 1 Collection of Delinquent Code Enforcement Fines Page 2 hearing, which notifies them of the time and date of the Council Meeting when the assessment is to be considered and providing them an opportunity to pay the delinquent fines prior to the hearing. The Community Development Department utilized extensive cross-checking with our tracking spreadsheet and Energov payment and billing records to identify those fines that were outstanding. Each case was then reviewed for accuracy, proper notice and service, and the completion of any appeal submitted prior to inclusion in the resolution. CONCURRENCES This process is consistent with the procedure prescribed in Municipal Code Section 1.24.140. FISCAL IMPACT Projected revenue from the collection of delinquent fines by the County Auditor for Fiscal Year 2015-16 is expected to be $2,350.00. ALTERNATIVES Do not adopt the resolution and continue to forward unpaid fines to a collection agency. This is not recommended as it typically does not result in fines being paid in an amount to cover the fine, but more importantly placing liens does have the potential effect of causing the correction of persistent violations as owners typically do will want the lien cleared and pay the fines in addition to addressing the violation. ATTACHMENTS 1. SLOMC 1.24.040 2. Resolution 3. List of properties T:\Council Agenda Reports\2015\2015-06-02\Resolution Authorizing Collection of Delinquent Code Enforcement Fines\CAR-June 2 2015.docx C12 - 2 Attachment 1 Page 1 of 3 1.24.140 Collection of unpaid fines. A. City Remedies. The city, at its discretion, may pursue any and all legal, equitable, and administrative remedies for the collection of unpaid civil administrative fines. 1. Remedies Cumulative. Pursuit of one remedy does not preclude the pursuit of any other remedies until the total fines owed by a person under this chapter have been collected. 2. Refusal to Issue Permits. A city department may refuse to accept an application for a city permit or license or to refuse to issue, extend, or renew to any person, who has unpaid delinquent fines, liens, or assessments, any city permit, license, or other city approval pertaining to the property that is the subject of a notice of violation and/or an unpaid administrative citation. 3. Suspension of Issued Permits. Notwithstanding any other provision of the code, any permit, license, or any type of land use approval issued by the city to a person who has unpaid administrative citations totaling five hundred dollars or more which remain delinquent for thirty days or longer may be suspended by the department which issued the permit or other entitlement. The suspension becomes effective ten days after the date the notice of the suspension is placed by the issuing department in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the person, and continues until the administrative delinquency is paid in full. The person may request an appeal or review hearing pursuant to the specific permit, license, or other city approval procedures or ordinance if such a request is filed before the ten-day period ends. 4. Criminal Remedies. The city attorney, at his or her discretion, may also issue a criminal citation or complaint (infraction or misdemeanor) to any person for a code violation when the applicable fine has not been paid. B. Violations Constitute a Public Nuisance. The director may pursue the remedies described in this section whether or not the city is pursuing any other action to terminate an ongoing code violation that was the basis for an administrative citation or to otherwise abate the violation or sanction the property owner. To compel code compliance, the city may also seek to collect C12 - 3 Attachment 1 Page 2 of 3 assessed fines by means of a nuisance abatement lien or special assessment against the property where a property related violation occurred in accordance with the procedures in Government Code Sections 38773.1 and 38773.5. C. Lien Conditions. To recover any delinquent administrative fines as a lien or special assessment on real property, the following conditions must be met: 1. The director must submit to and receive approval from the city council for a resolution certifying the amounts of the liens and special assessments sought to be collected from each property owner; and 2. The total amount of the delinquent fine against the property owner must be delinquent for sixty days or more. D. Lien Collections. The director is authorized to take any steps necessary to enforce collection of the lien or special assessment, including but not limited to the following: 1. Request the county recorder to record a notice of any lien or special assessment certified by resolution of the city council. 2. Request the county tax collector on behalf of the city to collect any special assessments certified by resolution of the city council. E. Notice of Lien Collection Procedures. All administrative citations shall contain a notice that unpaid fines are subject to the assessment and lien collection procedures of this chapter. This notice shall satisfy the notice requirements of Government Code Sections 38773.1 and 38773.5 when an administrative citation is served on the person. In addition, the director shall by first class mail send notice to each property owner at least ten days before the city council considers the resolution to certify the amounts of the liens and special assessments stating the date, time, and location of the meeting. The lien or special assessment shall be imposed on the date the administrative citation for the code violation is issued to the responsible person and shall become effective upon the recording of a notice of lien or special assessment by the County Recorder. F. Contesting Certification of a Lien. A person may contest the amount or the validity of any lien or special assessment for a civil fine at the public hearing when the city council considers the resolution to certify the liens or assessments. Such contests shall be limited to the issue of the C12 - 4 Attachment 1 Page 3 of 3 amount or validity of the lien or assessment and may not consider whether the underlying code violation occurred. Pursuit of such a contest by a person is necessary to exhaust the administrative remedies concerning a legal challenge to the validity of any such lien or special assessment. (Ord. 1576 § 1 (part), 2012) C12 - 5 THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK C12 - 6 Attachment 2 R ______ RESOLUTION NO. _____ (2015 Series) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO AUTHORIZING THE SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AUDITOR TO ASSESS AMOUNTS DUE ON DELINQUENT ADMINISTRATIVE FINES AS SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS AGAINST THE PROPERTIES PURSUANT TO CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 53069.4(a). WHEREAS, Government Code Section 53069.4(a) authorizes the City to adopt an ordinance that governs the imposition, enforcement, collection and administrative review of administrative fines arising out of violations of the Municipal Code; and WHEREAS, Pursuant to Government Code Section 53069.4(a), the City adopted Chapter 1.24 of the Municipal Code, which has been subsequently amended; and WHEREAS, Section 1.24.140 of the Municipal Code provides that the City may request that the County Assessor collect, on behalf of the City, any administrative fines which are more than 60 days delinquent, and which are certified by the City Council as special assessments; and WHEREAS, The City Council of San Luis Obispo finds that all of the fine amounts for the referenced properties listed below are at least 60 days delinquent; and WHEREAS, the property owners responsible for the violations were notified of the violations and received citations and were subsequently notified in writing by a notice mailed May 1, 2015 pursuant to Section 1.24.140 of the Municipal Code of this hearing and their right of appeal; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of San Luis Obispo as follows: Section 1. Recitals. The above recitals are true and correct and incorporated herein by this reference as the findings of the City Council. Section 2. Action. The City of San Luis Obispo hereby authorizes the San Luis Obispo County Auditor to assess the amounts due on delinquent accounts as special assessments against the properties listed on the attachment. Upon motion of _______________________, seconded by _______________________, and on the following roll call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: C12 - 7 Resolution No. _____ (2015 Series) Page 2 The foregoing resolution was adopted this _____ day of _____________________ 2015. ____________________________________ Mayor Jan Marx ATTEST: ____________________________________ Anthony Mejia City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: _____________________________________ J. Christine Dietrick City Attorney Attachment 2 C12 - 8 Attachment 3 Attachment to RESOLUTION NO._______(2015 Series) LIST OF PROPERTIES Name of Property Owner Assessors Parcel No. Property Address Amount/Cite Karen Traver Tre 004-441-022 1527 Oceanaire Dr., San Luis Obispo, CA $150.00 AC2014100, AC2015012 Linda Davenport 053-242-019 1035 Cortez Ct., San Luis Obispo, CA $700.00 AC2015018, AC2014114, AC2014101 Cassie & Michael Gann 004-442-031 1520 Gulf St., San Luis Obispo, CA $100.00 AC2015006 Peter Burtness 004-781-067 2675 Johnson Ave. San Luis Obispo, CA $1400.00 AC-2014095, AC-2014096 C12 - 9 THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK C12 - 10