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application of that period to that entity constituted a taking without just <br /> compensation (also unlikely). <br /> (3) Can the City, after the end of the amortization period, remove the <br /> sign and put these costs into the property tax if it does not receive payment? The <br /> statutory authority I find for what the city proposes to do is contained in Minn. Stat. <br /> §§ 463.16-463.21 (1990). This section is entitled "Hazardous and Substandard <br /> Buildings," although in practice a building must be hazardous for the provision of <br /> this section to come into play. Under these provisions, a municipality may order an <br /> owner to remove or correct hazardous conditions in any building (defined in <br /> § 463.15, subd. 2 as "any structure" and thus covering signs). Minn. Stat. 463.16. If <br /> the owner does nothing, the municipality may abate the hazardous condition itself, <br /> in which case it may levy a special assessment against the real estate (pursuant to <br /> Minn. Stat. §§ 429.061-429.081) for payment in not more than 5 annual installments <br /> with 8% annual interest. Minn. Stat. 463.161. Under Minn. Stat. 429.061, subd. 2, <br /> the assessment and accruing interest constitute a lien against the property <br /> concurrent with general taxes. This statute will thus be of use, but only if the sign is <br /> in hazardous condition. <br /> In cases not covered by this statute, there is one other possible approach. <br /> Minn. Stat. § 514.67 authorizes first and prior liens equivalent to tax liens for "any <br /> inspection, examination or other governmental service of any nature now or <br /> hereafter authorized or required by law," effective from the date of the service, • <br /> provided that a proceeding to enforce the lien is begun within two years of the claim <br /> becoming due. If removing the sign in the event the owner*does not do so after the <br /> amortization period is an authorized governmental service (which it would seem to <br /> be — if amortization of such signs is permissible, there must be some way to enforce <br /> the scheme), it seems that the language of this provision is broad enough to create at <br /> the least a first lien when the city removes the sign itself. <br />