Bill 05-16 Increase Fees for Code Services related to demolitionand nuisance abatement

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1300 COUNTY -CITY BUILDING 227 W ,JEFFERSON BOUI.F.vARD SOUTH BEND, INDIANA 46601 -1830 CITY OF SOUTH BEND PETE BUTTIGIEG, MAYOR PHONE 574/ 23 5 -9486 FAX 574/ 235-7703 DEPARTMENT OF CODE ENFORCEMENT RANDY WILKERSON DIRECTOR January 5, 2016 Tim Scott, Council President Common Council of the City of South Bend 227 West Jefferson Blvd. • Suite 400 S South Bend, Indiana 46601 The Department of Code Enforcement respectfully requests that the Council consider this ordinance to raise the cost of abatements that are completed by the Department. The current increases reflect an 11.5 percent increase from the last increase in 2008. I have also revised some of the charges to be accurate with our current processes. It is important to point out this is not a request for a budget increase; this is a cost of service fee for the Department to complete the abatements on property owners that do not comply with the Indiana Unsafe Building Law and the City of South Bend's Ordinance's. I will be available as the presenter on behalf of the Department. The costs of abating a nuisance such as trash, debris, fire hazardous materials and public health hazards and /or removing weeds and rank vegetation from real property include the costs of providing notice, the use of labor and equipment, and administrative costs. A schedule of fees for these services was last implemented in 2008, but the costs have increased since that time and now require adjustment. We presented this to the City of South Bend Board of Public Works on November 24, 2015 at a public hearing and received information on the current costs of abating a nuisance such as trash, debris, fire hazardous materials and public health hazards and /or removing weeds and rank vegetation, and by Resolution No. 67 -2015, it recommended for Common Council approval a schedule of fees for costs involved in the abatement of a nuisance, which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. The Indiana Unsafe Building Law, Ind. Code 36- 7 -9 -1, which is incorporated into the South Bend Municipal Code (the Code) in full and by reference at Chapter 6, Article 8, Section 6 -37, authorizes the City of South Bend through its Department of Code Enforcement to remove trash, debris, fire hazardous material, or a public health hazard in an about an unsafe premises. The Indiana Code at IC 36 -7- 10.1 -1 et seq. also authorizes municipalities to require property owners to remove weeds and other rank vegetation.