The City Council finds that some property owners take little or no responsibility for the exterior maintenance of their property until the city, through its various inspections programs, has repeatedly ordered them to abate the exterior of their property of the conditions listed in this chapter. Such property owners create excessive costs for the city which are over and above the normal cost of providing inspection services city-wide. Property owners who must repeatedly be ordered to abate their property consume an unacceptable and disproportionate share of limited city resources. Therefore, it is the intent of the City Council, by the adoption of this section, to impose and collect a user fee to defray costs associated with the excessive consumption of city exterior inspection services.
(A) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
EXTERIOR INSPECTION CYCLE. An enforcement officer has conducted an exterior property area inspection based upon a complaint or otherwise had occasion to view the exterior property area and observed a violation of this chapter, issued an order to abate the violation and reinspected the exterior property area to determine compliance with the abatement order.
EXTERIOR INSPECTION SERVICES FEE. The fee to be imposed for exterior property area inspection services deemed excessive. The fee shall be based upon the number of inspections performed and shall include but not be limited to the pro rata salaries of the enforcement officer performing exterior inspections of the subject property, the pro rata cost of equipment, materials and all other overhead costs used during inspection cycles of the subject property and the costs of any medical treatment of enforcement officers injured as a result of these inspections.
(B) Initial exterior inspection by enforcement officer. When an enforcement officer conducts an initial inspection of an exterior property area and determines that violations of this chapter exist, the enforcement officer shall, in addition to any other action the enforcement officer may undertake, serve written notice of the violation in conformance with the requirements set forth in § 92.06(A)(1). The initial notice must contain a notice of warning informing the owner that subsequent exterior property area inspections at that same location within the next consecutive 12 months may be deemed an excessive consumption of exterior inspection services and that the owner may be liable for an exterior inspection services fee.
(C) Excessive consumption of exterior inspection services, fee and liability.
(1) The city shall be entitled to collect its costs of enforcement from a property owner who consumes excessive exterior inspection services. An excessive consumption of exterior inspection services occurs at each element of an exterior inspection cycle beginning after:
(a) Written notice of a violation is served under division (B) following an initial inspection; and
(b) Two additional exterior inspection cycles are performed at the same location within a period of 365 days after the initial inspection; and
(c) During each of the two additional exterior inspection cycles under division (C)(1)(b) of this section, the enforcement officer finds violations of this chapter which are either new violations or violations based upon failure to correct previous violations.
(2) The fee for the third additional inspection cycle shall be $400. The fee for each inspection cycle thereafter shall be $200.
(3) Multiple owners of a property who have received a notice of warning shall be jointly and severally liable for the excessive consumption of exterior inspection services fee. Receipt of notice by one multiple owner of a property shall be considered receipt by all owners.
(4) The amount of the excessive consumption of exterior inspection services fee shall be a debt owed to the city by the responsible person or persons.
(5) Action under this section does not preclude any other civil or criminal enforcement procedure.
(6) A new owner who has duly recorded the instrument of conveyance for the subject property with the Nobles County Recorder shall not be liable for any excessive consumption fees arising from inspection services provided to the previous owner of the subject property.
(D) Cost; collection. The enforcement officer shall notify the City Finance Department in writing of the excessive consumption of exterior inspection services fee, of the name and address of the owner, the dates of the inspections giving rise to the excessive consumption of exterior inspection services fee, the violations observed and the amount of the excessive consumption of exterior inspection services fee. The City Finance Department shall thereafter cause appropriate billings to be made and be responsible for the collection of the excessive consumption of exterior inspection services fee.
(Ord. 962, passed 4-12-04)