Extracted text (via pymupdf)
6690 characters
1 Fees and Charges Report Date: June 1, 2026 To: City Council Through: Ken Cost, Assistant City Manager From: Angelica Guevara, Code Compliance Director Susan Lu, Fiscal Analyst, Development Services Department Subject: Code Compliance Department Update to Schedule of Fees and Charges Purpose and Recommendation The purpose of this report is to recommend changes to the Schedule of Fees and Charges for the Code Compliance Department. The Department recommends an increase to the Administrative Lien Fee and proposes new fees which include a new Title Search Fee and a new Certified Mail Fee. The proposed changes to the fees, if approved by City Council, would be effective July 1, 2026. Background Fees are reviewed regularly to ensure description clarity and that costs accurately reflect services provided. Discussion The Code Compliance Department is proposing the following changes to the Schedule of Fees and Charges: 1. Increase Administrative Lien Fee from $20.00 to $60.00 to match the Maricopa County Recorder’s Fee. The Code Compliance staff works with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office to record liens on properties for unpaid fees and fines. The current fee collected is $20.00; this proposal increases the fee to $60.00 to include the $30.00 fee assessed by the County to place and release a lien. 2 2. Create a new Title Search Fee There are properties where the City is unable to locate the property owner or responsible party. Often, this is due to the owner being deceased. At these properties, violations are multiple and the violations are often ongoing and exist for extended periods of time creating a burden and eyesore for the neighborhood. In these cases, the establishment of the $650.00 title search fee would allow the use of a title company to help find the party responsible for the property. The title search fee would only be assessed after all internal search abilities are exhausted without success. 3. Create a new Certified Mail Fee Typically, citations are personally served by code compliance officers unless the property owner is not located in the valley, if that is the case, then a private process server is used to personally serve the citation. After a code officer attempt to serve a citation without success, the civil hearing officer can authorize the use of the US Post Office certified mail to serve the citation. The Code Compliance Office is currently absorbing the cost of certified mail fees. The $15.00 fee would allow us to recover the cost associated with sending the citation through certified mail. 3 Methodology The Code Compliance Department is funded by the General Fund and is not a fully cost recovery department. Fines and fees collected are deposited into the General Fund. Fees and fines are imposed as penalties for non-compliance with City Codes. The fines accumulate if violations are allowed to persist. Consequences can also escalate to legal action in the form of criminal charges against a property owner or responsible party if compliance is not achieved. Non-compliance negatively affects our community, affecting safety, health, and property values. Alternatives Alternative to the recommended fee increases and additions could include no changes which would require the Code Compliance Department to continue to absorb the costs of providing specific services covered by the proposed fees. Fiscal Impact Based on current administrative liens recorded and released, the estimated revenue recapture with the increased administrative lien fee is estimated at $4,500 per fiscal year. Based on the anticipated number of title searches to performed, the estimated revenue is $6,500 per fiscal year. Based on the current number of certified mailings sent, the estimated revenue is anticipated to be approximately $5,000 per fiscal year. The total estimated FY 2026/27 fiscal impact for the Code Compliance Department is estimated at $16,000. 4 Fees & Charges Schedule – Key Heading Configuration Schedule of Fees & Charges Department Contact Information HEADING 1 HEADING 2 Heading 3 Description of Fee Description of Fee 2 Font Indications Font Font Indications Regular Font Existing fee or language Strikethrough Fee or language will be deleted from the Fee Schedule BOLD CAPS Language is being added to Fee Schedule Bold New or increased Fee Amount 5 Schedule of Fees & Charges Exhibit A – Code Compliance Department Department: Code Compliance Description of Service Current Fee Range Proposed Fee Range Unit Total Fiscal Impact Notes RE-INSPECTION FEES $0 Move from Development Services Department NON-COMPLIANCE FEE Fee assessed upon the second inspection if the violation remains $200.00 $0 Move from Development Services Department CONTINUED NON- COMPLIANCE FEE Fee assessed after a citation is issued for each inspection where the violation still remains $100.00 $0 Move from Development Services Department COMPLIANCE AGREEMENT FEE When complex circumstances make achieving compliance time-consuming, a compliance agreement can be entered into to establish the required actions and timeline $150.00 Per Agreement $0 Move from Development Services Department. Revised language to clarify intent. CIVIL VIOLATION FINES* Move from Development Services Department FINE ASSESSED FOR FIRST 1ST CIVIL VIOLATION $250.00- $1,500.00 PER VIOLATION $0 Move from Development Services Department and rename CONTINUED 2ND FINDING OF A PRIOR VIOLATION $350.00- $2,500.00 PER VIOLATION $0 Move from Development Services Department CONTINUED 3RD FINDING OF A PRIOR VIOLATION $500.00- $2,500.00 PER VIOLATION $0 Move from Development Services Department 6 Description of Service Current Fee Range Proposed Fee Range Unit Total Fiscal Impact Notes ADMINISTRATIVE LIEN FEE $20.00 $60.00 Lien $4,500 Increase fee to comply with current Maricopa County Recorder’s Office fees to place and release liens TITLE SEARCH FEE $650.00 PER CASE $6,500 Create new fee to recover cost of staff research of owners or responsible parties’ properties in violation of City Code that are difficult to locate CERTIFIED MAIL FEE $15.00 EACH $5,000 Create new fee to recover cost of certified mail to property owners *INCLUDING PROCESS SERVER FEES AND ALL OTHER APPLICABLE FEES AND CHARGES Move from Development Services Department, footnote to clarify miscellaneous fees that make up Civil Violation fee Estimated Total Annual Fiscal Impact: $16,000