(Added by Ord. No. 170,801, Eff. 1/21/96.) (Sec. No. Corrected by Ord. No. 170,910, Eff. 3/22/96.)
A. As used in this section, the following definition shall apply:
Secured Building Fee. A fee imposed pursuant to this section to recover the costs of securing a building.
B. Every person who has ownership or control of any business operated in any commercial building shall, upon the request of a member of the Los Angeles Police or Fire Department, provide the names and non-business telephone numbers of at least two persons who shall have authority to take control of and secure the property in the event the property is found in an unoccupied and unsecured condition. Such information shall be provided, received and maintained in confidence for the exclusive use by those departments to satisfy the purposes of this section. Information received by one department shall be transferred to the other department.
C. Any unoccupied and unsecured commercial building, for which the information required in Subsection A has been obtained and to which police have responded after actuation of a burglary alarm or other call for police service, is declared to be a public nuisance. Upon discovery after such response the Los Angeles Police Department may cause telephonic notice to be given to one or both of the persons whose name and non-business telephone numbers have been provided by the owner or person having control of the business pursuant to the provisions of Subsection A of this section. The telephonic notice provided for herein shall include the address of the building and the nature of the unsecured condition, shall cite this code section, and shall state that unless a representative of the owner or person having control thereof secures the building within one hour of the notice the City will secure the building and charge the owner of the business for the cost thereof.
D. If telephonic contact with either of the persons identified pursuant to Subsection A of this section cannot be made within one hour of the initial effort to make contact after response to a burglar alarm or if notice is given in accordance with the provisions of Subsection C of this section and the owner or the owners representative does not secure the building within one hour of such notice, the City or its contractor may enter upon the property and secure the building.
E. The Department shall give the owner of the business written notice of any action to secure any building in accordance with Subsection D of this section. Such notice shall be in a form prescribed by the Board.
F. All expenses incurred by the City pursuant to Subsection D of this section shall become an indebtedness of the owner of the business operated within the building.
G. Duties of the Department.
1. The Department shall develop written procedures to provide for training and the uniform implementation of this section.
2. The Department shall develop any form or document necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
3. The Department shall develop an administrative appeal hearing procedure to determine whether the indebtedness incurred under this section was assessed to the proper person or was properly assessed.
H. Duties of the Office of Finance. (Amended by Ord. No. 173,300, Eff. 6/30/00, Oper. 7/1/00.)
1. The Office of Finance shall bill the owner of the business for any indebtedness incurred under this section as reported by the Department. The bill shall be due and payable to the Office of Finance within fifteen days of the billing date.
2. If the Office of Finance determines for any billing that a discrepancy exists between the service fee paid and the amount billed which results in an underpayment or overpayment in an amount of three dollars or less, the Office of Finance may accept and record the billing as paid in full without other notification to the person billed.
3. If the Office of Finance determines that any amount of the service fee billed hereunder cannot be collected or that efforts to collect would be disproportionately costly in relation to the probable outcome of the collection efforts, the Office of Finance may prepare a report setting forth the findings and reasons therefor and request that the Board of Review authorize the removal of any unpaid amount from the active accounts receivable of the Department pursuant to Section 11.04 of this Code. Upon unanimous approval of the Board of Review, the Office of Finance may remove from the active accounts receivable any service fee owing. If the Board of Review does not unanimously approve the findings, the matter shall be returned to the Office of Finance. Any removal, however, shall not preclude the Office of Finance from collecting or attempting to collect any such sum that later proves to be collectible as provided by Section 11.04.
4. At least monthly the Office of Finance shall report to the Department the outstanding accounts receivable, collections and write offs of service fees.
5. Administrative Cost. The total cost covered in Paragraph 1 of this subsection shall include, in addition to the cost to perform the actual work, an amount equal to forty percent of such cost to cover the cost of the City administering any contract and supervising the work required.