Burbank Municipal Code Div. 4 Assessment, Sale and Redemption

The total amount of the actual costs of the improvement including incidental expenses, excepting any portion thereof provided by the Council to be paid by the City, shall be assessed against the lots and parcels of land within the assessment district in proportion to the benefits received by each of such lots or parcels of land from the improvement. [Formerly numbered Section 26-50; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2258.]

Any assessment hereunder against any lot or parcel of land belonging to the United States, or to the State, or to any county, city, school district or public agency, which is devoted to public use and fronts upon the improvement or is included within the district to be assessed to pay the costs and expenses thereof, may, at the option of the Council, be paid by the City out of such funds as the Council may direct. [Formerly numbered Section 26-52; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

The Public Works Director shall provide a suitable record book entitled “Assessments And Liens For Public Improvements”. There shall be entered in such book, as the information becomes available, the name of the owner of the property assessed (if such owner is unknown, the word “unknown” shall be substituted for the name of the owner), a brief description of the work or improvement, a description of the property as the same appears on the assessor’s books of accounting, the amount assessed against the property, the date of such assessment, the penalty for delinquency, and the payment thereof, the total amount charged against such property at the date of sale thereof, the date of sale, the name of the purchaser at the sale, the date of redemption, the name of the redemptioner, the amount paid to redeem, and the date of deed or certificate of sale to the City. No error in the name of the owner of the property and no error in the description of the property shall affect the validity of the lien provided for in this article, providing that the description is sufficient to identify the property assessed. [Formerly numbered Section 26-53; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

After the assessments have been entered in the record book, as provided in the preceding section, the Public Works Director shall give notice of such filing of assessment. Such notice shall be published for two (2) successive issues in a newspaper of general circulation in the City, and shall state that any property owner affected by, or interested in, the assessment or proceedings resulting in the same, may file an objection or protest in writing with the City Clerk within thirty (30) days after the publication of the notice. The notice shall designate the property assessed by street number or some other description sufficient to enable the property owner to identify the property, and shall state the amount assessed against each property. Reference shall also be made to the resolution of intention, the date of its passage, and a brief description of the work therein mentioned. In addition, it shall be stated that the assessment to the extent it is not covered by an installment and lien agreement under Section 2-1-905 and 2-1-906 of this code shall become delinquent if not paid within sixty (60) days after the first publication of such notice, and that there shall be added to the assessment a penalty of ten percent (10%) thereof, and that the assessment shall draw interest at the rate of seven percent (7%) per annum from the date of delinquency. [Formerly numbered Section 26-54; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2258.]

Any property owner affected by any proceedings taken under this article, feeling aggrieved by any act or determination of the Public Works Director, or of the Council, in relation thereto, or, who may claim that the work or improvement has not been made in workmanlike manner, or who has any objection to the correctness or legality of the entries in the record book maintained by the Public Works Director, may, within thirty (30) days after the publication of the notice of assessment, file with the City Clerk an objection or protest in writing, which shall briefly specify the grounds of their objection or protest. All such objections and protests shall be heard at the regular meeting of the Council immediately following the expiration of the time for filing objections or protests, unless the Council shall fix some other time or place for the hearing of the same. Upon hearing such protests, the Council may remedy or correct any error or informality in the proceedings, and revise and correct any of the acts or determinations of the Public Works Director relative to the work, and may confirm, amend, set aside, alter, modify or correct the assessments entered in the record book in such manner as to it shall seem just. The decision and determination of the Council in such matters shall be final and conclusive upon all persons entitled to appeal to the Council under the provisions of this section. [Formerly numbered Section 26-55; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

After the Council has passed upon any and all objections or protests as provided for in the preceding section, or after the time for filing protests has expired, the Public Works Director shall deliver the record of assessment or assessment roll to the City Treasurer, and the payment of such assessments shall thereafter be made to the City Treasurer. [Formerly numbered Section 26-56; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

The amount of any assessment made in accordance with the provisions of this article shall become a lien against the property so assessed as of the date of entry in the record book entitled “Assessments And Liens For Public Improvements”, and shall thereupon become due and payable to the City. No lien herein provided for shall be extinguished until the amount thereof is paid in full, or a valid deed to the assessed property is given to the City by the City Treasurer as hereinafter provided. [Formerly numbered Section 26-57; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

Any action to contest the validity of an assessment made under the provisions of this article must be preceded by an appeal to the Council as hereinbefore provided and must be commenced within thirty (30) days after the decision and determination of the Council on such appeal. [Formerly numbered Section 26-58; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058; eff. 2/21/87.]

If the assessment is not paid within sixty (60) days after the first publication of the notice of assessment, the assessment shall become delinquent, and ten percent (10%) of the amount thereof shall be added thereto as a penalty. The assessment shall bear interest at the rate of seven percent (7%) per annum from the date of delinquency until paid. This section shall not apply to any assessment, or portion thereof, covered by an installment, and lien agreement under Sections 2-1-905 and 2-1-906 of this Code. [Formerly numbered Section 26-59; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2258.]

In the event the assessment is not paid within two (2) years after it has become payable, the City Treasurer shall publish a notice for two (2) successive issues in a newspaper of general circulation in the City, setting forth the fact that the property on which the assessment is a lien was assessed; the name of the owner (if unknown, so state); the amount of the assessment; the amount of the penalty and interest; and such other information as shall be necessary to advise the owner of the property that on the first Monday in the month next succeeding such publication, the property in question will, at the hour of ten o’clock (10:00) A.M. of said day, at the office of the City Treasurer in the City, by operation of law and the declaration of the City Treasurer, be sold to the City for the amount of the assessment lien, plus penalty, interest and cost of publication. The City Treasurer shall also, at least fifteen (15) days before the sale, cause to be mailed a copy of such notice to the owner of each lot or parcel of property to be sold, at their place of residence or business, if known. On the date of sale provided for in the notice, the property shall be sold and the City Treasurer shall enter in the record book entitled “Assessments And Liens For Improvements”, the date of such sale, the amount for which the property was sold and that the property was sold to the City. Any error in the name of the owner in the notice shall not affect the validity of the assessment lien or sale. [Formerly numbered Section 26-60; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

Whenever property has been sold for any assessment under this article, and remains unredeemed, the City Treasurer shall transmit to the County Tax Collector notice of such fact, and upon all bills or statements accruing upon such property subsequent to the date of the sale and prior to the redemption of the property, or the execution of a deed therefor to the City, the County Assessor shall, upon such tax statement distinctly and legibly pint or stamp the words “Sold for Assessment”, and also the date of such sale. [Formerly numbered Section 26-61; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

The redemption of property sold for any assessment under this article may be made at any time within one year from the date of sale by paying to the City the amount for which the property was sold, together with interest thereon at the rate of seven percent (7%) per annum from the date of sale. When redemption is made, the City Treasurer shall note that fact in the record book entitled “Assessments And Liens For Public Improvements”, in an appropriate column, entering therein the date of redemption, the person by whom redeemed, and the amount paid. If the property remains unredeemed, at the expiration of one year from the date of sale, the City Treasurer shall execute a certificate of sale, or at the instruction of the Council, a deed conveying absolute title to the City in which will be recited a description of the property sold and unredeemed, the name of the owner thereof as it appears in such record book, a statement that the property was sold for delinquent assessment, the date of sale and the work or improvement and amount for which the property was sold, and such certificate of sale or deed shall be prima facie evidence of all matter therein recited and the regularity of all proceedings prior to the execution thereof. The City Treasurer shall report such fact to the City Manager who may thereafter, with the concurrence of the City Treasurer, order a title report and incur such other expenses as may be necessary to clear title to the property without court proceedings. Court proceedings to clear title shall be taken only at the direction of the Council. [Formerly numbered Section 26-62; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

Any owner of real property assessed, or liable to be assessed, for an improvement or proposed improvement may, at any time before such property is sold for delinquent assessment hereunder and the redemption period has expired, arrange to pay their assessment or share of the cost of the improvement, together with interest, penalty and costs, on an installment basis in accordance with the provisions of Section 2-1-905 and 2-1-906 of this code; provided, however, that if the amount due has ripened into an assessment, the owner need not execute a lien agreement. [Formerly numbered Section 26-63; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

The City Treasurer is authorized, and shall, upon the written request of any property owner with whom an installment agreement has been entered into under this article, defer the collection of monies due under such agreement for a period not to exceed two (2) years from the date of such request, provided the amount or balance due exceeds twenty five dollars ($25.00) and a payment of at least twelve and one-half percent (121/2%) of the amount when due, together with accrued interest, is received every three (3) months, or sooner, and the first such payment is made within three (3) months of the date of the request. [Formerly numbered Section 26-64; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]