Tehama Municipal Code Ch. 10.17 Enhanced Administrative Penalty Collection Program

The board of supervisors of the County of Tehama hereby finds and declares the following:

A. The County of Tehama from time to time imposes administrative civil penalties pursuant to Chapters 9.06 and 10.16 of the Tehama County Code.

B. Establishment of a program under which the amount of civil penalties imposed in specific cases may be compromised for good cause, and under which periodic payment plans for such penalties may be established, will facilitate overall collection of such penalties, reduce the need to enforce such penalties through the legal action or real property liens, and provide incentives for future compliance.

C. Such compromised amounts and periodic payments plans, where approved in accordance with the program established herein, thereby serve a public purpose of the County of Tehama.

D. The enforcement and collection program established hereunder is authorized by Government Code sections 949 and 53069.4, subdivision (a)(1).

(Ord. No. 2004, § 2, 6-2-2015)

The director of environmental health may, in his sole and exclusive discretion, compromise the amount of any administrative civil penalty duly proposed or imposed pursuant to Chapter 9.06 or 10.16 of the Tehama County Code, subject to the following conditions:

A. When determining whether to compromise any penalty amount hereunder, the director shall take into consideration the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation or violations, any prior history of violations, the degree of culpability, economic savings, if any resulting from the violation, the financial burden to the person(s) upon whom the penalty has been imposed, the degree to which the proposed compromise will facilitate collection of the penalties without the need for legal action or imposition and foreclosure of property liens, and any other matters justice may require.

B. Any compromise in excess of fifty percent of the full amount of the proposed or imposed penalty shall require approval of the board of supervisors.

C. The compromise shall be subject to any terms and conditions prescribed by the Director, which may include, without limitation, a condition requiring that the subject property and all responsible parties remain free of any additional violations for a specified period of time.

D. Any person accepting a compromised penalty hereunder shall be required to execute a settlement agreement in a form approved by the county counsel.

E. If the penalty has been made a lien upon real property in accordance with Tehama County Code Section 9.06.165 or 10.16.200, the clerk of the board of supervisors may either record or provide a notice of satisfaction upon payment in full of the compromised amount approved hereunder.

F. The director shall make an annual public report to the board of supervisors regarding any penalties compromised under this section.

(Ord. No. 2004, § 2, 6-2-2015)

The director of environmental health may, with or without compromising the penalty amount, approve the payment of any administrative civil penalty duly proposed or imposed pursuant to Chapter 9.06 or 10.16 of the Tehama County Code through a periodic payment plan. Approval of such payment plans shall be within the sole and exclusive discretion of the director, and the terms and conditions of such payment plan shall be established by the director in each case. Any person entering into a periodic payment plan hereunder shall be required to execute a settlement agreement in a form approved by the county counsel. The director may record a lien against the real property on which the violation occurred for the full amount due under the periodic payment plan, pursuant to Tehama County Code Section 9.06.165 or 10.16.200 as applicable, provided that such lien shall not be enforced through foreclosure and sale of the real property absent a default under the payment plan.

(Ord. No. 2004, § 2, 6-2-2015)

A. Approval of any compromise and payment plan under this chapter shall be within the sole and exclusive discretion of the director of environmental health, and the director may refuse a compromise or payment plan even if the criteria set forth in this chapter are satisfied. This chapter does not grant any person the right to have the amount of penalties compromised or deferred under any circumstances or establish any mandatory duty of any nature, and shall not be construed to give rise to any administrative appeal, cause of action, right, or remedy against the County of Tehama or any officer or employee thereof.

B. A compromise or periodic payment plan approved under this chapter does not excuse or discharge any continuation or repeated occurrence of the violation that is the subject of the compromise or payment plan. The compromise or payment plan does not bar the county from taking any other enforcement action regarding a violation that is not corrected.

(Ord. No. 2004, § 2, 6-2-2015)

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, portion, or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof. The board hereby declares that it would have passed this chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, portion, or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or phrases be declared illegal, invalid or unconstitutional.

(Ord. No. 2004, § 2, 6-2-2015)