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(a) The cost of providing an essential public utility service may be assessed upon the benefiting real property only when it appears that the owner or other person in charge of the real property is unable or unwilling to make payments for such services within a reasonable time following the billing for such services. No assessment shall be levied unless, at the time of application for assessment, payment for the essential public utility service for the property is more than seventy five (75) days overdue, whether or not the present customer of record was the owner during all or any portion of said period. Except as provided elsewhere, said assessment lien shall not be made more than six months after the application for assessment was filed. If an assessment was levied upon a real property in the previous year, so that the cost of essential public utility service has been paid through collection of assessments on the property tax bill, an application for assessment may be made notwithstanding that delinquencies did not exist during the previous year.
(b) No assessment lien shall be levied more than six months after the application for assessment was filed, unless the property is the subject of litigation in State or Federal Court.
(c) The City shall mail to the owner or owners of record at their respective address as shown on the last equalized tax roll, as well as any lenders of record at their respective last known address, of the property to be assessed by registered mail return receipt requested, a copy of the application for assessment within 45 days after said application for assessment was filed. Failure to receive said notice does not invalidate the herein proceedings.
(d) The application for assessment shall contain:
(1) A resolution of the governing board of the department providing the essential public utility service requesting that the City Council of the City of Los Angeles levy assessments upon real properties to pay for service provided and to be provided to real properties.
(2) A statement (i) that payments are or have been overdue as set forth in Subsection (a) of this Section; (ii) the address, legal description and assessor’s parcel number of the real properties proposed to be assessed; (iii) the names of the owner or owners, and their respective addresses as shown on the last equalized assessment roll of the County of Los Angeles; (iv) the names of the recorded lenders at their respective last known addresses; (v) the names of the persons and their respective addresses who were last billed for the public utility service; (vi) an accounting documenting the delinquencies prior to the date of application and the payments and dates of payments made on the account which justifies the application for assessment for each real property; (vii) the amount of past due billings, including all taxes, surcharges, fees, interest and charges thereon, at the time of application; (viii) the estimated total billings for the utility service, including all taxes, surcharges, fees and charges thereon, and including interest which will accrue until payment, during the period of the fiscal year after the date of filing the application, less any amounts not expended from previously made assessments; (ix) the estimated total billings for the utility service, including all taxes, surcharges, fees and charges thereon and including the net amount of interest which will accrue until payment during the next fiscal year, and (x) an estimate of the reasonable additional cost to the department to make the application for the assessment and collect the assessment, which reasonable cost will be included in the amount of the assessment.
(e) Said application for assessment shall be filed with the City Clerk of the City of Los Angeles and the County Recorder of Los Angeles County within 45 days after the property was more than 75 days overdue. Said application may be for assessments to more than one property. When received, the City Clerk shall forward the applications for assessment to the City Engineer. The City Engineer shall advise the City Council of the making of an application.
(f) The City Engineer shall cause the application to be noted on the records utilized in preparing the City Engineer’s report for the Report of Residential Property Records and Pending and Recorded Liens issued pursuant to Division D of Chapter 9 of Article 6 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, commencing with Section 96.300.
(g) The City Engineer shall process said application for assessment received as follows:
(1) Estimate the total amount of proposed assessment for the department making the applications, including all of the items listed in Subsection (b)(2) of this section and including any estimated costs to the City in giving notice, holding hearings, and collecting and distributing the assessment when it is paid.
(2) Prepare an Assessment Roll listing:
(i) Each property to be assessed by address and by legal description;
(ii) The name of the owner or owners and the addresses as shown on the last Equalized Assessment Roll, and the names and the addresses of the persons last billed for the utility service, as such names and addresses have been furnished by the department making the application for assessment; and
(iii) The amount of each proposed assessment and the department and utility service for which it is proposed to be levied.
(h) At the request of the City Engineer, the City Attorney is hereby authorized and directed to prepare a draft of an ordinance declaring the Council’s intention to levy assessments pursuant to this chapter and to forward the draft of ordinance to the City Engineer for transmittal with the assessment roll to the City Council.
(i) If the City Council in its sole discretion determines to do so, the Council may adopt the ordinance and declare its intention to levy assessments for past due billings for essential utility services and future billings for essential utility services and setting a time, date and place of hearing. The ordinance shall provide that an initial hearing shall be held before a hearing officer or officers designated by the Board of Public Works and that all persons desiring to protest the assessment before the City Council must, prior thereto, appear before the hearing officer or officers.
SECTION HISTORY
Chapter 8 added by Ord. No. 162,383, Eff. 7-23-87.
Amended by: Subsecs. (d), (e), and (g), Ord. No. 165,518, Eff. 4-1-90; Subsec. (a) amended, Subsecs. (b) through (g) relettered (d) through (i), new Subsecs. (b) and (c) added, Subsecs. (d), (e) and first paragraph Subsec. (g) amended, Ord. No. 170,164, Eff. 1-19-95.
(a) Notice of the time, date and place of hearing before the City Council shall be given by the City Engineer as follows, with all of said notices being mailed and published no less than 15 days prior to the date of hearing. If the ordinance provides that there must be an appearance before a hearing officer, hearing commission, or committee of the City Council before protest may be made to the Council, the mailing and notice must be completed prior to 10 days before the earliest date for such appearance.
(b) The notice shall be mailed by first class mail to each owner and, if different from the owner, to each person last billed for utility services as their names and addresses were furnished to the City Engineer by the department making the application, as well as to each lender of record, at their last known address. It shall also state the legal description and address of the property to be assessed, as furnished to the City Engineer, the amount proposed to be assessed, including all costs and expenses of the department furnishing utility services and costs and expenses of making the assessment, that it is proposed to add the assessment to the next county tax bill, and shall also set forth the time, date and place of hearings as well as a short explanation of the hearing procedure. The notice shall also contain one or more telephone numbers of the department which made the application for assessment and a telephone number in the office of the City Engineer, at which information regarding the billings, proposed assessments, or procedures be obtained.
(c) The City Engineer shall keep a record of the notices, the persons to whom such notices were mailed, the date of mailing, and the person responsible for the mailing. A declaration by the person responsible for such mailing that it was made shall be sufficient evidence that notice was given. Failure of an addressee to receive such notice shall not invalidate a good faith attempt to give actual notice of the proposed assessment.
SECTION HISTORY
Chapter 8 added by Ord. No. 162,383, Eff 7-23-87.
Amended by: Subsec. (b), Ord. No. 170,164, Eff. 1-19-95; Subsecs. (a) and (c), Ord. No. 181,595, Eff. 4-10-11.
(a) At any time before the date set for hearing before the City Council, the department applying for assessment may withdraw its application or may reduce, but not increase, the amount it requests to be assessed. Said withdrawal or reduction request shall be in writing signed by an authorized representative of the department furnishing utility services. The withdrawal or reduction request shall be filed with the City Engineer three days or more prior to the date of the City Council hearing. The City Engineer shall modify the assessment roll accordingly. Payment of past due billings shall not prohibit the City from levying assessments for billings to come due for the balance of the fiscal year and for the next fiscal year unless it is clearly established that conditions of ownership or operation have changed so that there are reasonable assurances that future billings will be paid when due.
SECTION HISTORY
Chapter 8 added by Ord. No. 162,383, Eff. 7-23-87.
(a) Whenever possible, hearings shall be held on a quarterly basis.
(b) At the hearing the application for assessment and the assessment roll shall be prima facie evidence of the matters contained therein. The burden of going forward with the evidence to establish the incorrectness of the application or the assessment roll shall be upon the person opposing the proposed assessment.
(c) If there has been a hearing before a hearing officer, hearing commission, or committee of the City Council its written findings or conclusions may be considered by the City Council.
(d) Any person opposing an assessment upon real property which is owned or controlled by such person may submit the person’s protest either in writing, orally or both. The oral hearing may be continued from time–to–time as schedules require. The time allotted for oral presentation may be reasonably limited by order at the time of the oral presentation.
(e) The City Council or the committee of the City Council considering the proposed assessment may refer the matter to the City Engineer for further review prior to making its recommendation or decision. If such referral is made, the City Engineer may consult with whomever the City Engineer sees fit, and shall make written recommendations and the reasons therefor to the committee or Council. The department-making the application for assessment and the owners and persons billed for the utility service shall be given written notice of the date of the committee or Council consideration of the City Engineer’s report and recommendations and shall be permitted to comment thereon in writing or orally.
SECTION HISTORY
Chapter 8 added by Ord. No. 162,383, Eff. 7-23-87.
Amended by: Subsecs. (a) through (d) relettered (b) through (e) and new Subsec. (a) added, Ord. No. 170,164, Eff. 1-19-95.
A final Assessment Roll containing the names of each owner and the descriptions of the real properties to be assessed, the purpose of the assessment, and the amount of the assessment, all as determined by the City Council, must be confirmed by the City Council by a majority vote of all the members of the Council. Upon confirmation, the City Engineer shall record a Notice of Assessment and Lien with the County Recorder in such form as to give suitable notice of the assessment and lien to any potential buyer. Upon confirmation, the amount of assessments become a lien upon the real property until such time as the first installment of the property tax bill incorporating the assessment becomes payable. At the time the property tax bill, which includes the assessment, becomes payable, the assessment has the same priority as taxes and other assessments on the property tax bill.
SECTION HISTORY
Chapter 8 added by Ord. No. 162,383, Eff. 7-23-87.
Amended by: In Entirety, Ord. No. 165,518, Eff. 4-1-90.
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