Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 04-28-09 regular — reading text

in the preceding capital financing plan worksheets, and to the best of my knowledge, this information accurately reflects the financial capability of the City of Fort Walton Beach Project Sponsor I further certify that the City of Fort Walton Beach has the financial capability to ensure Project Sponsor adequate construction, operation, and maintenance of the system, including this SRF project. Signatur D to Revised: 01/ 19/ 06  Page 1 of 1 Carole Jones From: Toni Craig [ tonicraig @cox. net] Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 11: 12 AM To: Robert Mearns; Carole Jones Subject: Ordinance 1793- Code Enforcement Mitigation Attachments: memo mitig ord. pdf Please include the attached materials for first reading on the April 28 agenda. Thank you. Toni L. Craig Attorney at Law Fla Bar No 115444 Board Certified, City, County, Local Government Law PO Box 2917 Fort Walton Beach FL 32549 850) 243 -6969 Fax: ( 850) 244 -8929 www.tonicraig. info Marital & Family Law Local Government Law CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email is intended only for the use of the addressee. If you received this email in error, please notify me immediately, delete the email from your computer and do not copy or disclose it to anyone else. If you are not an existing client of Toni L. Craig, Attorney at Law, do not construe anything in this email as legal advice or to make you a client. Do not disclose anything to me in any reply that you expect to be kept confidential. If you are a client, you should keep the contents of this email confidential to preserve the attorney -client or work product privilege. 4/ 21/ 2009  I ORDINANCE 1793 2 3 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, 4 FLORIDA; PROVIDING FOR AUTHORITY; ADOPTING SECTION 5 1. 05. 08, ENTITLED CODE ENFORCEMENT ORDER MITIGATION 6 PROCEDURES; RESOLVING CONFLICTING PROVISIONS AND 7 SEVERABILITY; AND SETTING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 8 9 NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE 10 CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS: 11 12 Section 1. Authority & Intent 13 a. The authority for enactment of this ordinance is pursuant to the 14 powers vested in the City by Home Rule Authority of section 166. 021( 1), Florida 15 Statutes ( 2008), the provisions of Chapter 162, Florida Statutes, and the City 16 Charter. 17 18 b. Section 162. 09( 2)( c), Florida Statutes, provides that the City's Code 19 Enforcement Board may reduce a code enforcement fine before an order 20 imposing a fine has been recorded in the public records. 21 22 C. Code enforcement orders imposing a fine may be recorded in the 23 public records if the order remains unpaid for three months. 24 25 d. Section 162. 09( 3), Florida Statutes, provides that code 26 enforcement order liens run in favor of the City Council and that the Council may 27 agree to satisfy or release code enforcement liens. 28 29 e. Once an order imposing fine is recorded, it constitutes a lien 30 against the land on which the violation exists and upon any other real or personal 31 property owned by the violator. Upon petition to the circuit court, such an order is 32 enforceable in the same manner as a court judgment by the sheriffs of this state, 33 including execution and levy against the personal property of the violator. 34 35 f. The City Council finds that the city' s code enforcement procedures 36 are intended to provide an equitable, expeditious, effective, and inexpensive 37 method of enforcing and gaining compliance with the code, and that foreclosure 38 of liens should be a last resort to gain compliance. 39 40 g. The City Council recognizes that having a lien filed against real and 41 personal property may not be the most equitable or effective method of gaining 42 compliance and, in some cases, may create a hardship for citizens. 43 44 h. Therefore, the City Council finds that it will promote, protect, and 45 improve the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens by establishing code 46 enforcement order mitigation procedures. ATTYDRAFT 412112009 47 48 49 Section 2. Adoption of Section 1. 05.08, Code Enforcement Order 50 Mitigation Procedures. 51 The Code of Ordinances, City of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, is hereby 52 amended by adding a section to be numbered 1. 05.08, which section shall read 53 as follows: 54 1. 05.08 Code Enforcement Order Mitigation Procedures._ 55 56 A. Definitions. 57 Satisfaction of Order. A legal document, as approved by the city attorney, 58 and the process by which the city acknowledges and confirms that a 59 violator has satisfied all obligations of a code enforcement order imposing 60 a fine. 61 62 Release of Order. A legal document, as approved by the city attorney, and 63 the process by which the city acknowledges and confirms that the city is 64 releasing the violator from some of the obligations of a code enforcement 65 order imposing a fine while other obligations of the order have been 66 satisfied by the violator. 67 68 Satisfaction of Lien: A legal document, as approved by the city attorney, 69 and the process by which the city acknowledges and confirms that a 70 violator has satisfied all obligations of a code enforcement order imposing 71 a fine that has been filed in the public records of Okaloosa County. The 72 City shall file a satisfaction of lien in the public records of Okaloosa 73 County. 74 75 Release of Lien: A legal document, as approved by the city attorney, and 76 the process by which the city acknowledges and confirms that the city is 77 releasing the violator from some of the obligations of a code enforcement 78 order imposinq a fine that has been filed in the public records of Okaloosa 79 County, while other obligations of the order have been satisfied by the 80 violator. The City shall file a release of lien in the public records of 81 Okaloosa County. 82 83 Mitigation Schedule: A schedule of suggested mitigation percentages, as 84 approved by the City Council and amended by resolution if needed, that 85 shall be considered during review of an application for release of an order 86 imposing a fine or release of lien, and that may ensure an equitable, 87 expeditious, and effective method of paining compliance with the code. 88 The following is the city' s suggested mitigation percentage schedule: 89 90 Fine Amount % of Fine Amount to be Paid 91 $ 0 to $ 20, 000 20% of the fine amount 92 $ 20, 001 - $ 40, 000 30% of the fine amount ATTYDRAFT 412112009  93 40, 001 — and over 35% of the fine amount 94 95 B. Satisfaction of Order or Lien 96 1. At any time that a violator /property owner has satisfied all 97 obligations of a code enforcement order, the Code Enforcement Board 98 Chairman, upon provided by the violator and a statement of request 99 compliance provided by the code inspector, shall execute a satisfaction of 100 order or lien, whichever is applicable. 101 102 2. The city clerk will record any satisfaction of lien in the public 103 records of Okaloosa County, Florida, and provide a copy of the recorded 104 document to the property owner. 105 106 C. Reduction of Fine; Release of Order; Filing of Order. 107 The code enforcement board shall adopt procedures for reviewing 108 a code enforcement board order imposing a fine, upon application of a 109 violator. Such procedures shall: 110 111 1. govern a request for a reduction of fine made within ten days 112 of any order imposing a fine; 113 114 2. govern a request for a release of order, which procedures 115 shall be effective for the first three months after an order imposing a 116 fine is issued; 117 118 3. govern a staff request to file an order imposing a fine into the 119 court records, and 120 121 4. at a minimum, require: 122 a. statements in each order that notify the violator that 123 there are procedures to request a reduction of fine, release 124 of order, or release of lien; 125 126 b. criteria for determining if an order imposing a fine 127 should be filed in the public records that would be effective 128 durinq the fourth through sixth months after an order 129 imposing a fine has been issued; 130 131 C. criteria for foreclosure mitigation that would be 132 effective during the first three months after an order 133 imposing a fine has been filed in the public records, and 134 135 d. findings of fact regarding any reduction of fine or 136 release of order, that ensures the code enforcement board 137 considered the following: 138 1) the gravity of the violation; ATTYDRAFT 412112009 139 2) the time in which it took the violator /property 140 owner to come into compliance; 141 3) the accrued amount of the code enforcement 142 fines /lien as compared to the county' s property 143 appraiser's stated value of the property before 144 exemptions; 145 4) any previous code violations, and 146 5) the mitigation schedule. 147 148 D. Release of Lien 149 If a certified copy of a code enforcement board order has been 150 recorded in the public records and the property that was in violation has 151 been brought into compliance with the code, the violator /property owner 152 may apply to the city council for a release of lien as follows 153 154 1. The violator /property owner shall apply for a release of lien 155 on a sworn application approved by the city manger that includes, 156 at a minimum, the address of the subject property, the date the 157 subject property was brought into compliance, the factual bases for 158 the request for