10-22-2025 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Staff Report To: Mayor Fischer and Members of the City Council From: Heidi Heller, City Clerk/HR Manager Evan Glunz, Utility Billing/Administrative Support Lisa Krieger, Customer Service Specialist Date: October 22, 2025 Re: Certify Unpaid Utilities False Alarm Fees and Administrative Fines to Property Taxes Action To Be Considered: Motion to approve, table, or deny the following: • Certify the 2025 unpaid utility bills totaling $190,760.45, false alarm fees totaling $1,000.00, and administrative fines totaling $925.00 to the payable 2026 property taxes. Background: City Utility Bills In accordance with city code, letters were mailed on September 18, 2025, to 188 delinquent utility accounts for service prior to July 1, 2025, and included city contact information for questions and assistance. The total balance includes late fees and the $25.00 certification fee. After receiving letters, several accounts tend to pay the required balance to avoid certification. The final list will be updated before certification to account for these recent payments. False Alarm Fees Multiple letters and emails have been sent to one property and property owner that have unpaid false alarm fees. Properties are not charged for the first two false alarms each year, but three or more false alarms in a calendar year are fined an increasing amount depending on how many false alarms occur. Staff proposes to certify the false alarm fees to the payable 2026 property taxes. Administrative Fines The city code was amended in 2023 to include administrative fines for any code violations and allow these fines to be assessed to the property if unpaid. Code Enforcement staff has addressed multiple code violations at a property in Little Canada over the past few years related to junk, garbage, and inoperable vehicles. There has finally been compliance to the large issues this year, but violations related to garbage on the property tend to regularly occur and need monitoring. City staff has utilized this code provision to issue an administrative fine to the property owner on several occasions due to non-compliance. To date, the administrative fines have not been paid. A letter notifying the property owner of the pending assessments has also been mailed. A $25.00 certification fee is added to each unpaid bill to cover the certification costs from Ramsey County.