Hesperia Municipal Code Art. VIII Accounting and Recovery of Costs

A. Pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 17951, enforcement and abatement costs shall be charged to the responsible person for the costs directly related to investigating, enforcing and abating a code violation or public nuisance. This section is enacted solely for the purpose of defraying enforcement costs and not for general revenue purposes. A fee rate for the staff time of each city official, agent or representative who may participate in an investigation or enforcement procedure shall be established and approved by resolution of the city council.

B. The city shall keep and maintain the following records reflecting enforcement and abatement costs.

1. The enforcement officer primarily responsible for an enforcement procedure shall keep an account of all enforcement costs and any abatement costs incurred by the city or its agents or representatives in investigating, enforcing, correcting and abating the subject code violation or public nuisance for which an enforcement procedure was commenced. If more than one lot or parcel of land is involved in the enforcement procedure, then the enforcement officer shall also keep an account of the enforcement and abatement costs incurred concerning each separate lot or parcel of land where the work is done.

2. Each investigating or inspecting enforcement officer shall keep an account of all of his enforcement time and incidental expenses incurred for each enforcement procedure and provide the enforcement officer primarily responsible for that enforcement procedure with an itemized statement thereof on a monthly basis.

3. The enforcement officer primarily responsible for an enforcement procedure shall render an itemized bill or statement for all of the enforcement costs and any abatement costs actually incurred by the city pertaining to that matter. The enforcement officer shall provide such itemized bill or statement at the times provided for in this chapter.

C. Upon the expiration of the period stated in the notice of public nuisance all enforcement costs and any abatement costs actually incurred by the city in connection with a code violation or public nuisance until its correction or abatement with all required city approvals and inspections, shall be charged to the responsible person in accordance with the provisions of the enforcement procedure selected by the city for that matter.

D. Abatement costs shall be assessed at the conclusion of the abatement, provided, however, in the case of an abatement by any method which takes more than six months, costs may be assessed at any time after six months, but in no event more than two times a year.

(Ord. 2001-6 Exh. A (part), 2001)

A. Recordation of Nuisance Abatement Lien.

1. Pursuant to California Government Code Section 38773.1, a nuisance abatement lien procedure is adopted to collect enforcement costs and any abatement costs. A lien may be recorded on the responsible person's real property when an invoice, order or judgment has not been paid within thirty (30) days of the date of the invoice, order or judgment and timely appeal, if applicable, has not been received by the city.

2. Prior to recording a lien, a notice shall be given to the owner of record of the parcel of land on which the public nuisance is maintained, based on the last equalized assessment roll or the supplement roll, whichever is more current. The notice shall be served in the same manner as a summons in a civil action in accordance with Article 3 (commencing with Section 415.10) of Chapter 4 of Title 5 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure. If the responsible person, after diligent search, cannot be found, the notice may be served by posting a copy thereof in a conspicuous place upon the property for a period of ten days and publication thereof in a newspaper of general circulation published in San Bernardino County pursuant to Section 6062 of Government Code.

3. After notice is given in accordance with the above, a nuisance abatement lien shall be recorded in the San Bernardino County recorder's office and shall thereafter constitute a lien on the real property for the enforcement costs and abatement costs. From the date of recording, the lien shall have the force, effect and priority of a judgment lien.

4. A lien recorded pursuant to this section shall specify the amount of the lien, the name of the agency on whose behalf the lien is imposed, the date of the abatement order, the street address, the legal description and the assessor's parcel number of the parcel on which the lien is imposed and the name and address of the recorded owner of the parcel.

5. In the event the lien is discharged, released or satisfied, either through payment or foreclosure, notice of the discharge containing the same information as the notice of lien shall be recorded in San Bernardino County recorder's office by the governmental agency.

6. The city may foreclose on a nuisance abatement lien by a judicial foreclosure action.

B. Special Assessment of Abatement Costs.

1. As an alternative to the nuisance abatement lien, the city declares unpaid enforcement costs and any abatement costs a special assessment against the parcel of land upon which nuisance is found. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary municipal taxes are collected and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedures and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary municipal taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of municipal taxes shall be applicable to the special assessment procedure to collect the abatement and related administrative costs.

2. The enforcement officer may take all appropriate actions pursuant to this section to recover unpaid abatement costs at such time as this chapter allows the recordation of a nuisance abatement lien.

(Ord. 2001-6 Exh. A (part), 2001)