(a) The city manager shall appoint an administrator of the Dallas Tomorrow Fund. The administrator shall adopt policies and procedures consistent with this article for the administration of the fund.
(b) To be eligible to receive funds from the Dallas Tomorrow Fund, a person must:
(1) have received a notice of violation of this chapter from the director;
(2) have been found by the administrator of the Dallas Tomorrow Fund to be financially unable to comply with the notice of violation;
(3) file a request with the Dallas Tomorrow Fund administrator for the purpose of rehabilitating and/or repairing the person's property or premises until it complies with the notice of violation; and
(4) not have received funds from the Dallas Tomorrow Fund within the preceding 60 months.
(c) A person who makes a request to the Dallas Tomorrow Fund administrator is voluntarily requesting that the administrator use the fund to rehabilitate and/or repair the person's property or premises for the sole purpose of bringing the property or premises into compliance with the notice of violation.
(d) The administrator is responsible for ensuring that the property or premises is inspected and that a detailed, written project plan is prepared that includes the work proposed, the amount of time the work will take, and the cost of the work. The project plan must include only the work necessary to bring the property or premises into compliance with the notice of violation.
(e) A person who files a request with the Dallas Tomorrow Fund administrator does so voluntarily. Before the work on the property or premises begins, the person who filed the request must confirm in writing that he or she:
(1) inspected the project plan;
(2) approved the project plan; and
(3) has understood that he or she has the right to withdraw the request at any time by providing written notice to the Dallas Tomorrow Fund administrator.
(f) If the person continues with the request, the person must indemnify the city against any liability resulting from the project, any damages that may occur related to the project, and any damages resulting from any early termination of the project.
(g) The administrator shall comply with state law in procuring a contractor to rehabilitate and/or repair the property or premises in accordance with the project plan.
(h) The contractor selected by the Dallas Tomorrow Fund administrator has the right to terminate the project at any time pursuant to their contractual agreement and pursuant to policies and procedures adopted by the administrator. Any termination notice must be in writing. The city has no obligation, and is not liable, for any subsequent rehabilitation and/or repair of the property or premises as a result of the termination.
(i) If the project is terminated prior to completion for any reason, the administrator may disburse money from the Dallas Tomorrow Fund to pay the contractor for work completed by the contractor.
(j) Once the administrator certifies that the project is completed, the administrator shall notify the code officer who wrote the notice of violation and the officer's district manager in writing. The project must then be inspected by the city for the sole purpose of determining whether the property or premises complies with the notice of violation. If the city inspector determines that the property or premises does not comply with the notice of violation, then the city inspector shall send written notice to the administrator that the project is not completed and describe the work that is required before the project will be considered completed. At that point, the administrator shall ensure that the selected contractor will continue the project until once again certifying that the project is completed, at which time the project will again be inspected by the city for the sole purpose of determining whether the property or premises complies with the notice of violation.
(k) The administrator may only initiate project plans for projects costing $20,000 or less. No project plan may be initiated by the administrator unless the project cost is less than or equal to the amount in the Dallas Tomorrow Fund at any one time. The administrator shall produce a biannual report of available funds and appropriated funds in the Dallas Tomorrow Fund. If the fund is temporarily out of money, the administrator may not initiate a project plan until such time as there are additional funds equal to or exceeding the amount of the project's cost. If during work on the project, additional funds are needed in order to ensure that the property or premises complies with the notice of violation, the administrator may approve additional funds, not to exceed 25 percent of the maximum project amount allowed by this subsection, for work that was necessary to bring the property or premises into compliance with the notice of violation, but that was not anticipated in the original project plan. Substantial changes to the project plan must be approved in writing by the person who filed the request with the Dallas Tomorrow Fund administrator. (Ord. Nos. 25927; 29618; 30236)