(A) Violations of ordinances that are enforced by the city’s Code Enforcement Board shall be subject to the following schedule of civil fines.
(1) If a citation for a violation of an ordinance is not contested by the person charged with the violation, the penalties shall refer to § 96.99.
(2) If the citation is contested and a hearing before the Code Enforcement Board is required, maximum penalties will refer to the current maximum penalty section of the § 96.99.
(B) The city shall possess a lien on property owned by the person found by a non-appealable final order as defined in § 35.055, or by a final judgment of the court, to have committed a violation of a city ordinance. The lien shall be for all civil fines assessed for the violation and for all charges and fees incurred by the city in connection with the enforcement of the ordinance, including abatement costs. An affidavit of the code enforcement officer shall constitute prima facie evidence of the amount of the lien and regularity of the proceedings pursuant to KRS 65.8801 to 65.8839.
(C) The lien shall be recorded in the office of the County Clerk. The lien shall be notice to all persons from the time of its recording and shall bear interest until paid. The lien shall continue for ten years following the date of the non-appealable final order or final court judgment.
(D) Subject to § 35.068, the lien shall take precedence over all other liens, except state, county, school board and city taxes, and may be enforced by judicial proceedings, including a foreclosure action.
(E) In addition to the remedy prescribed in division (B) above, the person found to have committed the violation shall be personally responsible for the amount of all civil fines assessed for the violation and for all charges, fees and abatement costs incurred by the city in connection with the enforcement of the ordinance. The city may bring a civil action against the person and shall have the same remedies as provided for the recovery of a debt.
(Ord. 2022-03, passed 4-25-2022; Ord. 2022-07, passed 11-10-2022) Penalty, see § 10.99