Item T2BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting D. 7/15/2015 - KW- Division: CoLm� Attorney's Office
Bulk Item: Yes No X
Staff Contact: Steve Williams 292-3470
AGENDA ITEM WORDING: A public hearing to consider an ordinance authorizing the Code
Compliance Special Magistrate to hear all requests for reductions in code compliance liens and act on
the Board's behalf in considering such liens.
ITEM BACKGROUND: At the May 20'h BOCC meeting, the Board requested that the County
Attorney draft an ordinance authorizing the Code Compliance Special Magistrate to hear all requests
for reductions in code compliance liens and to reduce and/or eliminate said liens in appropriate
circumstances. The draft ordinance would formally delegate the Board's plenary authority to reduce
code compliance liens to the Special Magistrate.
The attached ordinance was drafted based upon review of other ordinances currently in place in other
jurisdictions throughout the State which, if implemented, would expedite and provide consistency to
the code compliance process.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION:
BOCC 5/20/15 direction to staff
BOCC 6/10/15 scheduled Public Hearing July 15, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. in Key West, FL
CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES:
N/A
STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
Approval.
DIFFE.,%'s'T1TL4,L OF LOCAL PREFERENCE: NA
COST TO COUNTY: Advertising costs SOURCE OF FUNDS:
REVENUE PRODUCING: Yes No X AMOUNT PER MONTH Year
APPROVED BY: County Atty �ik OMB/Purchasing — Risk Management
DOCUMENTATION: Included X Not Required
DIISPOSITIOA: AGENDA ITEM #
ORDINANCE NO. -2015
AN ORDINANCE CREATING SECTIONS 8-30(6) and 8-31(d),
MONROE COUNTY CODE; PROVIDING FOR THE AUTHORITY
OF THE SPECIAL MAGISTRATE IN CODE COMPLIANCE
MATTERS TO HEAR AND RULE UPON FINE AND LIEN
REDUCTION REQUESTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY;
PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF ALL ORDINANCES
INCONSISTENT HEREWITH; PROVIDING FOR
INCORPORATION INTO THE MONROE COUNTY CODE; AND
PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE FOR ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, Article VIII, Section 1, Fla. Const., provide the Board of County Commissioners (hereinafter
"Board") as the governing body of Monroe County, with powers of self-government as provided for by general or
special law; and
WHEREAS, certain of those powers have been enumerated in Section 125.01(1), Fla. Stat., to include: (1) the
power to adopt resolutions necessary for the exercise of its powers and prescribe fines and penalties for the violation of
ordinances in accordance with law, and (2) the power to perform any other acts not inconsistent with law; and
WHEREAS, Section 125.01(3), Fla. Stat., provides all implied powers necessary or incident to the carrying out of
the powers in Section 125.01, and states that Section 125.01 shall be liberally construed in order to effectively carry out
the purposes of this section and to secure for the counties the broad exercise of home rule powers; and
WHEREAS, the Director of Code Compliance is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the Code of
Ordinances of Monroe County and the Land Development Code of Monroe County; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Chapter 162, Fla. Stat., the Monroe County Special Magistrate may, upon factual
findings of a violation and the violator's failure to correct or abate the violation pursuant to a previous Order of the
Special Magistrate, impose fines and costs, by virtue of an Order Imposing Fine/Lien or Final Order; and
WHEREAS, Section 162.09(3), Fla. Stat., provides that the Special Magistrate may authorize the County
Attorney's Office to foreclose the lien or to sue to recover a money judgment for the amount of the lien in the event the
fine/lien remains unpaid three months after recording of the Order Imposing Fine/Lien or Final Order; and
WHEREAS, Section 162.09(3), Fla. Stat., also authorizes the County to petition the court for enforcement of the
Order Imposing Fine/Lien and further provides for execution and levy to the same extent as a civil judgment; and
WHEREAS, foreclosure, execution and levy, or suits for money judgments, or are often not effective methods for
the recovery of code compliance liens; and
WHEREAS, Section 162.09(3), Fla. Stat., provides that an order imposing a fine, or a fine plus repair costs, shall
become a lien when recorded in the official records of the County and upon recordation shall become a lien running in
favor of the County; and
WHEREAS, the current procedure for a violator to have an imposed lien modified calls for the violator to submit
a written request to have the Board consider the lien matter at a Board meeting; and
WHEREAS, the Board finds this process places an undue consumption of time of other County resources during
the course of a Board meeting and that the person or persons with the greatest knowledge of the history of the lien
material would be the violator, code staff and the Special Magistrate; and
Page 1
WHEREAS, the Special Magistrate has the ability and the knowledge to assist the Board by hearing any requests
for a reduction in a County imposed lien and then making a recommendation to the Board as to whether such lien shall
be modified; and
WHEREAS, the County is required to prepare and record a satisfaction or release of code compliance lien as well
as a satisfaction of judgment for civil code infractions in every instance where a lien or civil judgment has been paid;
and
WHEREAS, the County wishes to establish criteria for the compromise, settlement and satisfaction of code
compliance liens and has determined that the following additions to the Code of Ordinances is in the best interest of the
County; and
WHEREAS, the Board wishes to delegate its plenary authority regarding code liens and finds that the Special
Magistrate having the authority to hear and decide property owner requests for the reduction of any previously imposed
liens is in the best interest of the public.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA:
Section 1. Sec 8-30 Powers of the code compliance special magistrate, MCC, is hereby amended to read:
The code compliance special magistrate shall have the power to:
(1) Adopt rules for the conduct of hearings;
(2) Subpoena alleged violators and witnesses to hearings. Subpoenas are to be served by the sheriff or
others authorized to serve process;
(3) Subpoena evidence;
(4) Take testimony under oath;
(5) Issue orders having the force of law to command whatever steps are necessary to bring a violation
into compliance; and
(6) Upon written request of a violator, to modify an existing lien amount
Section 2. Sec. 8-31 Administrative fines; liens, MCC is hereby amended to read:
(a) The code compliance special magistrate, upon notification by the director of the department of code that
an order of the board has not been complied with by the set time or upon finding that a repeat violation has
been committed, may order the violator to pay a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 per day per violation for a
first violation, up to $5,000.00 per day per violation for a repeat violation, and up to $15,000 per violation
if the special magistrate finds the violation to be irreparable or irreversible in nature. In addition, if the
violation is a violation described in F.S. § 162.06(4), the special magistrate shall, through the director of
code compliance, notify the board of county commissioners, that may make all reasonable repairs that are
required to bring the property into compliance and charge the violator with the reasonable cost of repairs
along with the fine imposed pursuant to this section. Making such repairs does not create a continuing
obligation on the part of the board of county commissioners to make further repairs or to maintain the
property and does not create any liability against the board of county commissioners for any damages to
the property if such repairs were completed in good faith. If, after due notice and a hearing, a code
compliance special magistrate finds a violation to be irreparable or irreversible in nature, he may order the
Page 2
violator to pay a fine as specified in this section and a hearing shall not be necessary for issuance of the
order.
(b) In determining the amount of the fine, if any, the code compliance special magistrate shall consider the
following factors:
(1) The gravity of the violation;
(2) Any actions taken by the violator to correct the violation; and
(3) Any previous violations committed by the violator.
(c) A certified copy of an order imposing lien or a fine, or a fine plus repairs costs, may be recorded in the
public records and thereafter shall constitute a lien against the land on which the violations exist and upon
any other real or personal property owned by the violator. Upon petition to the circuit court, such order
shall be enforceable in the same manner as a court judgment by the sheriffs of this state, including levy
against the personal property of the violator, but shall not be deemed to be a court judgment except for
enforcement purposes. A fine imposed pursuant to this section shall continue to accrue until the violator
comes into compliance or until judgment is rendered in a suit to foreclose on a lien filed pursuant to this
section, whichever occur first. A lien arising from a fine imposed pursuant to this section runs in favor of
the board of county commissioners, and the board may execute a satisfaction or release entered pursuant to
this section. After three months from the filing of any such lien that remains unpaid, the code compliance
special magistrate may authorize the county attorney to foreclose on the lien or to sue to recover a money
judgment for the amount of the lien plus accrued interest.no lien created pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter may be foreclosed on real property that is a homestead under section 4, article X of the
State Constitution.
(d) The code compliance special magistrate shall have the discretionary authority to reduce fines and liens
pursuant to Fla. Stat.. chapter 162 as amended. A violator or entity requesting a release of lien has no right
to the reduction or release of a fine or lien. In evaluating requests for liens to be released or reduced the
Special Magistrate will consider the following;
(1) Whether the entity requesting the release owns other properties in the County and how many
have active code cases or code liens:
(2) Whether the entity requesting the release owned the property for which the lien was placed at
the time the lien was placed:
(3) Whether the entity requesting the release took proactive action to correct the violations for
which the lien was placed:
(4) Whether the violations have been corrected:
(5) Any other specific information which is available about the property or the entity requesting
the reduction or release,•
(6) Any other factor which may show a hardship on the entity requesting the release or which may
provide a reasonable basis for the relief.
After considering the six enumerated factors the special magistrate shall have the plenary power of the
Board expressly delegated to him to modify the existing lien or fines Any appeal of the special magistrate's fmding
shall be to the circuit court.
Section 3. Severability.
Page 3
If any portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or declared to be unconstitutional, inoperative or void,
such holding shall not affect the remaining portion of this ordinance. If this ordinance or any provision thereof shall be
held to be inapplicable to any person, property or circumstances, such holding shall not affect its applicability to any
other person, property or circumstances.
Section 4. Conflicting Provisions.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of said conflict.
Section 5. Inclusion in the Code of Ordinances.
The provisions of this Ordinance shall be included and incorporated in the Code of Ordinances of the County of
Monroe, Florida, as an addition to amendment thereto, and shall be appropriately renumbered to conform to the uniform
numbering system of the Code.
Section 6. Transmittal and Effective Date.
This Ordinance shall be filed with the Department of State and shall be effective as provided in section 125.66(2)(b),
Florida Statutes.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Florida at a meeting of the
Board held on the day of , A.D., 2015.
(SEAL)
ATTEST: Amy Heavilin, CLERK
DEPUTY CLERK
Mayor Danny L. Kolhage
Mayor Pro Tem Heather Carruthers
Commissioner George Neugent
Commissioner David Rice
Commissioner Sylvia J. Murphy
Page 4
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
BY:
DANNY L. KOLHAGE, MAYOR
MONROE COUNTY ATTORNEY
A ROVED AS T ORM:
STEVEN T. WR.l,r,MS
ASSiSTA T C LINTY ATTORNEY
Date
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO CONSIDER
ADOPTION OF COUNTY ORDINANCE
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN that on July 15, 2015 at
3:00 P.M., or as soon thereafter as may be heard, in the Commission Chambers located in the
Harvey Government Center, 1200 Truman Avenue, Key West, Monroe County, Florida, the
Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Florida, intends to consider the adoption of
the following County ordinance:
AN ORDINANCE CREATING SECTIONS 8-30(6) and 8-31(d),
MONROE COUNTY CODE; PROVIDING FOR THE
AUTHORITY OF THE SPECIAL MAGISTRATE IN CODE
COMPLIANCE MATTERS TO HEAR AND RULE UPON FINE
AND LIEN REDUCTION REQUESTS; PROVIDING FOR
SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF ALL
ORDINANCES INCONSISTENT HEREWITH; PROVIDING
FOR INCORPORATION INTO THE MONROE COUNTY
CODE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE FOR
ORDINANCE.
Pursuant to Section 286.0105, Florida Statutes, notice is given that if a person decides to appeal
any decision made by the Board with respect to any matter considered at such hearings or
meetings, he will need a record of the proceedings, and that, for such purpose, he may need to
ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and
evidence upon which the appeal is to be based.
ADA ASSISTANCE. If you are a person with a disability who needs special accommodations in order to
participate in this proceeding, please contact the County Administrator's Office, by phoning (305) 292-
4441, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., no later than five (5) calendar days prior to the
scheduled meeting; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call "711':
Dated at Key West, Florida, this 12th day of June, 2015.
(SEAL)
Publication dates:
KW Citizen (Wed) 6/17/15
Keynoter (Wed) 6/17/15
Reporter (Fr) 6/19/15
AMY HEAVILIN, Clerk of the Circuit Court
and ex officio Clerk of the Board of County
Commissioners of Monroe County, Florida