(A) (1) A vacant property registration form and registration fee shall be filed with the City Manager.
(2) Fees for the registration of vacant property shall be established by separate City Council ordinance.
(B) The fees described in this section are established in order to defray the cost to the city government and community as a whole related to the health, safety and economic impacts of structures which remain vacant for long periods of time, including, but not limited to, administrative costs for registering and processing the vacant building owner registration form and for the costs incurred by the city in monitoring the vacant building site. The fees are also structured in order to provide appropriate incentives for owners of vacant buildings to care for them properly, seek to fill them and, in appropriate cases, demolish them. The annually increased fee amounts are intended to absorb the costs incurred by the city for demolition and hazard abatement of or repairs to vacant buildings, as well as the continued normal administrative costs stated above.
(1) The owner of a vacant building shall pay a fee of $100 with registration of a vacant property. For every consecutive year that the building remains vacant, an annual fee will be assessed at double the previous year’s fee for a maximum annual fee equaling the five-year fee of $1,600 to be used for the fifth and for all consecutive, subsequent years of vacancy.
(2) The first annual fee shall be paid at the time the building is registered. If the owner successfully restores the building to occupancy or demolishes it in accordance with applicable City Code during the year following registration and there have been no violations associated with the property, the fee shall be refunded, less an administrative charge equal to any cost the city has incurred.
(3) All fees shall be paid in full prior to the issuance of any zoning or demolition permits unless the property is granted an exemption.
(4) All fees including delinquent fees shall be paid by the owner prior to any transfer of an ownership interest in the vacant building. A lien may be placed on the property to collect delinquent fees.
(Prior Code, § 9.17.06) (Ord. 67-20, passed 11-29-2020) Penalty, see § 156.99