The City Council finds some property owners take little or no responsibility for the maintenance of their property until the City, through its various inspections programs, has repeatedly ordered them to remedy violations of the City Code. Such property owners create excessive costs for the City that are over and above the normal cost of providing inspection services in the City. Property owners who the City must repeatedly order to remedy Code violations on their property consume a disproportionate share of limited City resources.
It is the intent of the City Council, by the adoption of this chapter, to impose and collect the costs associated with re- inspections and the excessive consumption of City inspection services. The collection of such costs for certain properties shall be by assessment against the real property requiring such excessive inspection or reinspection services, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes section 429.101, which authorizes the Council to provide for reinspection fees to be collected by special assessment and allows cities to collect the costs associated with the removal or elimination of public health or safety hazards.
The City Council also intends, by the adoption of this chapter, to impose on and collect from the owner of a property the City cost for police and law enforcement services which are over and above the cost of providing normal law enforcement services and police protection City-wide, if the said excess costs are spent to abate a nuisance which has occurred, or is maintained and permitted, on the property. The collection of the costs for such excess police services shall be by assessment against the property on which the nuisance, or activity constituting the nuisance, occurs, pursuant to the authority in the City Code empowering the Council to abate nuisances and collect the costs of such abatement by special assessment. Nothing herein shall prevent the City from using the authority and procedures in any other provision of the City ordinance or statute, including but not limited to Minnesota Statutes, section 429.101. (Ord. 1366, 2-25-2019)