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ADMINISTRATIVE OFFENSE DISCUSSION POINTS <br /> <br />1. Administrative Offenses that are certified to Property Taxes should be property- <br />based. <br /> <br />The city agrees. <br /> <br />2. Should there be a neutral arbitrator? <br /> <br />I would suggest that if the Charter addresses this in any fashion, it should <br />provide the city with the authority to establish a third party neutral or <br />hearing officer and not get into any specifics for the reasons articulated. <br /> <br />3. Can a property owner request a fine be certified to his taxes immediately rather than <br />paid in cash? <br /> <br />Yes, we already provide for this now with diseased tree removal and for <br />some abatements. I would caution against using the word "immediately", <br />however, as we typically go through the certification process just once a <br />year. we could do it every March and every September, but the county <br />only processes such requests once a year early in the fall in preparation <br />for the following year's tax statements. <br /> <br />4. What should be the limit of total amount of fines certified rather than submitted to the <br />Court and over what period of time should this be applied? <br /> <br />I would not recommend establishing a limit in the first place, although I <br />understand why others may be more comfortable with a limit. That said, <br />if a limit is truly deemed necessary by the Commission, then I would <br />recommend the limit be established to reflect the sum of the three <br />graduated fines plus respective late fees. In other words, if the first fine <br />is $150, the second $300 and the third $450 (for same or similar <br />violations) and all are unpaid and thus subject to late fee of $50 each, the <br />total would be $1,050. Please keep in mind however that if court <br />citations are issued for the same offenses rather than AOs, the maximum <br />cumulative fines a judge could impose would be $3,000 with no provision <br />for certifying against the property taxes. <br /> <br />5. Do we need to specify a minimum period of time between the receipt of a fine and the <br />certification of unpaid fines to taxes? <br /> <br />No. If we extend the time frame by which a recipient has to pay the fine <br />to 30 days, I see no reason why we would need to further limit the time <br />before a certification could move forward. Even if we acted immediately <br />after the thirty-day period to begin the certification process, we would still <br />need to provide notice to the property owner and then provide them with <br />an opportunity to be heard before the city council. <br />