(a) Any Person in violation of any provision of this Article and of failing to pay the amount billed such Person for such violation shall be liable for payment of a civil penalty in an amount equal to (1) the costs incurred by the City occasioned by the failure to remove Signs and by damaged property occasioned by their posting or removal, and (2) the costs to the City incurred in obtaining imposition of such civil penalties through litigation, including the cost of paying City employees or other persons to engage in the litigation, and (3) an additional amount equal to 50 percent of the total of (1) and (2) of this Subsection.
(b) In addition to any other remedies that may be available, a violation of this Article may be punishable by an administrative fine, which may be assessed by an administrative citation issued by Department of Public Works officials designated in Section 38 of the Police Code. Administrative Code Chapter 100, "Procedures Governing the Imposition of Administrative Fines," as may be amended from time to time, is hereby incorporated and shall govern the procedure for the imposition, enforcement, collection, and administrative review of administrative citations issued to enforce this Article, except that the amount of the administrative fine shall be $100 for a first violation of any section of this Article, $200 for a second violation of such section within one year of the first violation, and $500 for each additional violation of such section within one year of the first violation.
(c) All monies received by the City in payment of civil penalties or administrative fines for violation of this Article shall be deposited to the credit of the Bureau of Street Environmental Services of the Department of Public Works in a special fund, to be entitled "Sign Removal Fund." Revenue from such fund shall be used exclusively for the costs related to the removal of illegally posted Signs and repair of City property damaged by such posting. Balances remaining in the fund at the close of any fiscal year shall have been deemed to have been provided for a specific purpose within the meaning of Section 9.113 of the Charter, and shall be carried forward and accumulated in said fund for the purposes recited herein. The monies received into this fund are hereby appropriated exclusively for the purposes set forth herein.
(Added by Ord. 116-99, File No. 982076, App. 5/14/99; amended by Ord. 87-03, File No. 030482, App. 5/9/2003; Ord. 222-06, File No. 060853, App. 8/11/2006; Ord. 74-11, File No. 110280, App. 5/5/2011, Eff. 6/4/2011)