(A) Account of expense, filing of report. The City Council or building official shall keep an itemized account of the expense incurred by the city in the repair or demolition of any building done pursuant to provisions of this chapter. Upon the completion of the work of repair or demolition, the City Council or building official shall prepare and file with the clerk of the City Council a report specifying the work done, the itemized and total cost of the work, a description of the real property upon which the building or structure is or was located, and the names and addresses of the persons entitled to notice pursuant to § 97.07(C).
(B) Notice of hearing. At the next regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council following the filing of the report referred to in division (A) of this section, the City Council shall fix a time, date and place for hearing the report and any protest and objections thereto. The City Council, or its designee, shall cause notice of the hearing to be posted upon the property involved, published once in a newspaper of general circulation in Umatilla County, and served by certified mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the owner of the property as the owner’s name and address appears on the last tax assessment roll of the county, if such so appears, or as is known by the City Council, and to the other persons referred to in § 97.07(C). Such notice shall be given at least ten days prior to the date set for the hearing and shall specify the day, hour and place when the City Council will hear and pass upon the report, together with any objections or protests which may be filed as hereinafter provided by any person interested in or affected by the proposed charge.
(C) Protests and objections. Any person interested in or affected by the proposed charge may file written protests or objections with the City Council no later than one day prior to the time set for the hearing on the report referred to in division (A) of this section. Each such protest or objection must contain a description of the property in which the signer thereof is interested, the nature of the signer’s interest in the property, and the grounds of such protest or objection. Such protests or objections shall be considered by the City Council at the time set for the hearing, and no other protests or objections shall be considered.
(D) Hearing of protests.
(1) Upon the day and hour fixed for the hearing, the City Council shall hear and pass upon the report referred to in division (A) of this section together with any such objections or protests. The City Council may make such revision, correction or modification in the report or the charge as it may deem just; and when the City Council is satisfied with the correctness of the charge, the report (as submitted or as revised, corrected or modified) together with the charge, shall be confirmed or rejected. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the City Council may refer the hearing referred to in this section to a hearing examiner, whose decision will have the same effect as a decision by the City Council.
(2) The City Council or hearing examiner may thereupon order that the charge shall be made a personal obligation of the property owner and/or may assess the charge against the property involved.
(3) If the City Council or hearing examiner orders that the charge shall be a personal obligation of the property owner, the city may use all appropriate legal remedies that may be reasonable under the circumstances given the amount to be recovered and the chances of actual payment.
(4) If the City Council or hearing examiner orders that the charge shall be assessed against the property, it shall confirm the assessment, cause the same to be recorded on the assessment roll, and thereafter the assessment shall constitute a special assessment against and a lien upon the property.
(5) The decision on the report, charges, and assessments shall be final and conclusive except as state or federal law may otherwise require a right for judicial review, in which case the procedures and deadlines set forth in § 97.l0 shall apply.
(E) Authority for installment payment of assessments with interest. The City Council, in its discretion, may determine that assessments in amounts of $500 or more may be payable in not to exceed five equal annual payments. The City Council’s determination to allow payment of such assessments in installments, the number of installments, whether they shall bear interest, and the rate thereof shall be by a resolution and is not appealable.
(F) Lien of assessment.
(1) Immediately upon its being placed on the assessment roll, the assessment shall be deemed to be complete, the several amounts assessed shall be payable, and the assessment shall be liens against the lots or parcels of land assessed, respectively. The lien shall be subordinate to all existing special assessment liens previously imposed upon the same property and shall be paramount to all other liens except for state, county and property taxes with which it shall be in parity. The lien shall continue until the assessment and all interest due and payable thereon are paid.
(2) All such assessments remaining unpaid after 30 days from the date of recording on the assessment roll shall become delinquent and shall bear interest at the rate of 9% per annum from and after the date.
(3) The lien may be enforced, collected upon and foreclosed in accordance with the provisions of O.R.S. 223.505 through 223.650 or other state law, and by suit in equity or at law in Circuit Court.
(Ord. 542, passed 11-10-2014; Ord. 547, passed 4-13-2015)