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Housing Code Fee Scedules AmendmentTHE CITY OF DUBUQUE Masterpiece on the Mississippi Dubuque All-American City 2007 TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager SUBJECT: Amendments to Housing Code and Fee Schedules DATE: May 14, 2008 Housing and Community Development Department Director David Harris is recommending approval of an ordinance authorizing a fee to be charged for a property owner's failure to be present at a scheduled Housing inspection. As noted in the November 07 report of the Interdepartmental Task Force on Code Enforcement Activities, and in a December memorandum to the Council: "City initiatives in Response to Downtown Neighborhood Issues," a goal set by the Housing Department is to reduce the over seven-year cycle for completion of inspection of the City's rental housing down to five years. A recommendation has been made to address the number of inspections having to be rescheduled due to the owner or owner's representative not being present at a scheduled inspection. This would be accomplished by requiring a fee to be paid by the owner for a rescheduled inspection after a "no-show," in theory reducing missed appointments and increasing the efficient use of the housing inspectors' time. The proposed Amendment to the Housing Code would allow the property owner to cancel a scheduled inspection one time, provided notice is received by the Housing Department no less than 48 hours prior to the inspection. However, if an inspection must be rescheduled due to failure to appear or provide proper notice, a fee will be charged to the owner. The fee is proposed to be $50. Separate from this recommendation, lalso want to advise you that the City Manager sets the fee paid for rental unit re-inspections. As part of these modifications, I will be approving an increase in the re-inspection fee from $25 per building and $2 per additional room inspected, to $25 per building and $5 per additional room inspected. Currently, the Housing Code provides for an initial inspection and two follow-up inspections at no charge. If a third re-inspection is required, however, a re-inspection fee may be charged. I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council approval. Michael C. Van Milligen MCVM/jh Attachment cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager David Harris, Housing and Community Development Department Director THE CITY OF DUBUQUE Masterpiece on the Mississippi Dubuque All-American City 2007 TO: Michael Van-Milligen, City Manager FROM: David Harris, Housing and Community Development Department SUBJECT: Amendments to Housing Code and Fee Schedules DATE: 22 April 08 Introduction The purpose of this memorandum is to request the City Council's approval of the attached ordinance, amending Chapter 26, Housing Regulations, Code of Ordinances, authorizing a fee be charged for an owner's failure to be present at a scheduled inspection. The memo also proposes an increase in the fee paid for rental unit re- inspections, as established by the City Manager. Discussion As noted in the November 07 report of the Interdepartmental Task Force on Code Enforcement Activities, and in a December memorandum to the Council: "City initiatives in Response to Downtown Neighborhood Issues," a goal set by the Housing Department is to reduce the multi-year cycle for completion of inspection of the City's rental housing. A recommendation has been made to address the number of inspections having to be rescheduled due to the owner or owner's representative not being present at a scheduled inspection. This would be accomplished by requiring a fee to be paid by the owner fora "no-show," in theory reducing missed appointments and increasing the efficient use of the housing inspectors' time. A second recommendation is to increase the fee paid fora "reinspection," when the inspector has to return to the unit a third time in the course of following up code enforcement notices and orders. The proposed amendment to Sec 26-7(b)(2) of the Housing Code would allow the owner to cancel a scheduled inspection one time, provided notice is received by the Housing Department no less than 48 hours prior to the inspection. However, if a second inspection must be scheduled due to failure to appear or to provide proper notice, a fee will be charged to the owner. This fee is proposed to be set at $50. Currently, the Housing Code provides for an initial inspection and two follow-up inspections at no charge. If a third re-inspection is required, however, a reinspection fee may be charged, at the rate of $25 per building and $2 per additional room inspected. In practice, the Housing Department has not assessed this fee. We propose now to charge the fee, and to increase it, to $5 per room. Again, the purpose of this is make the inspection process function more efficiently and reduce the cycle time for inspection of the City's 7600 rental units. As part of a process for review of these proposals, City staff have met with representatives from the Dubuque Landlords Association, in discussions facilitated by the Chamber of Commerce. Action Step The action requested of the City Council is to approve the proposed amendment to the Housing Code, establishing a fee for the owner's failure to be present at a scheduled rental unit inspection. cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney ORDINANCE NO. 32 -08 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, CITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA, CHAPTER 26, HOUSING REGULATIONS, BY: REPEALING SECTION 26-7(b)(2) RELATING TO INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL LICENSED DWELLINGS AND ADOPTING IN LIEU THEREOF A NEW SUB- SECTION (2) RELATING TO INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSED DWELLINGS. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA: Section 1. Section 26-7(b)(2) of the City of Dubuque Code of Ordinances is hereby repealed, and the following new Section 26-7(b)(2) is hereby adopted in lieu thereof: All rental dwelling units shall be subject to regular housing code enforcement inspection and followup reinspection as necessary. There shall be no charge for the initial rental dwelling unit inspection, for any complaint generated inspection and for two (2) follow-up reinspections. For each required additional followup reinspection, a reinspection fee shall be paid by the owner in an amount determined by the city manager. Not less than seven calendar days prior to a scheduled inspection, the Housing Officer shall mail written notice by regular mail to the license holder and any known tenants setting out the date and time of a scheduled inspection. If the license holder or an authorized representative of the license holder fails to be present at the time of the scheduled inspection and the inspector is unable to obtain entry to the unit, a second inspection shall be scheduled and a rescheduling fee shall be paid by the owner in an amount determined by the city manager. The license holder may cancel a scheduled inspection one time without payment of the rescheduling fee, provided the Housing officer is notified of the cancellation not less than 48 hours prior to the scheduled inspection. Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon publication. Passed, approved and adopted this 19th day of May, 2008 Roy D ol, Mayor Attest: . Kevin S. Firnstahl, ssistant, City erk