ACTION REQUESTED:
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Communication from the City Manager and Director of Community Development with a Request to ADOPT an ORDINANCE Amending CHAPTER 13 of the CODE of the City of Peoria Relating to the DEFINITION of WEEDS.
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BACKGROUND: Due to the economic downturn created by COVID-19, the City of Peoria is experiencing a budget shortfall. One of the possible options for reducing this shortfall includes a cut to Code Enforcement service levels. This recommendation will help reduce the budget shortfall, minimize delays in department response time those reductions will cause, and align the environmental property maintenance expectations for private property owners with the recommendation of mowing City owned lots less frequently.
This communication will amend Chapter 13 of the City of Peoria code related to the acceptable length of grass/weeds. It will increase the acceptable length from ten (10) inches to fifteen (15) inches.
The code amendment will allow the Community Development Department to respond to violations without a major delay in the time expectation of our residents. Delays would occur with the elimination of four temporary Code Enforcement Aide positions, but the code change will decrease the delay. In addition, the code change will allow the Department to stretch a reduced expenditure amount for our Weed and Litter contract if that option were to proceed.
This proposed code amendment will allow the Department to stretch a reduced expenditure amount for our Weed and Litter contract if that option were to proceed. The Community Development Department currently budgets $457,000 a year to maintain private property. To date, the Department has spent $75,000. Reducing the budget by $100,000 would leave $282,000 to maintain private property for the remainder of 2020. This will result in about 1,000 fewer work orders executed throughout the City of Peoria. The funds will be spent until exhausted and at that point, the Department will rely on citations to gain compliance. Please note that the bills for these work orders are charged to private property owners, but the collection rate is low and there is a significant time delay in any cost recovery.
This proposed code amendment will allow the Community Development Department to respond to complaints without a major delay in the level of service provided to citizens. For the last six years, the Community Development Department has hired temporary workers to help with the increase demand for service related to spring and summer conditions. The Department usually hires these employees in April, and they work for the Department for 6 months. Due to the current situation, the Department has not been able to hire these positions. Not hiring the position will result in 4,000 fewer Code Enforcement Actions. (22% reduction of work orders, abates, citations, housing notices, inoperable vehicles) For comparison, the Code Enforcement Division completed over 18,000 actions in 2019. Delays would occur with the elimination of four temporary Code Enforcement Aide positions but amending Chapter 13 of the Code of the City of Peoria will decrease this delay.
The Community Development Department will continue to provide information to the public about their responsibility to maintain their property. Additionally, code enforcement inspectors will continue to provide abate/warning notices at the ten (10) inch level, but will not issue tickets or authorize work orders until the violation height of fifteen (15) inches is reached. We believe that this pre-violation warning will increase the percentage of property owners who resolve the issue prior to the expenditure of City taxpayer funds. Any increase in the percentage of property owners who cut their own grass, pick up litter and garbage on their property, and don’t allow junk to accumulate will reduce the cost charged to all taxpayers for the maintenance of property that belongs to someone else.
Update from City Council Meeting schedule on 4/21/2020:
Sunset Provision of ordinance changes - Language was placed in the ordinance that reflects the ordinance change will only be in place from the date adopted to December 31st, 2020.
Warning Notice Discussion - There was concern about creating an expectation of a warning notice when grass reaches ten inches and then possibly discontinuing that process. If future staffing levels cannot keep up with the demand of code issues and the warning notice process is discontinued, the Department will send an email out to all registered users of the notification system, make multiple posts on social media and issue a press release. In addition, it will be communicated to City Council before that decision is made.
Collection Process - Work orders completed on private property are billed to the property owner. If those bills are not paid, a lien is filed on that property. The lien cost is included on the following year’s property tax bill as a special assessment. This process ensures the best likelihood that the bill gets paid, however, it creates a delay in the time the bill was issued versus when the City receives payment. In addition, a significant amount of works orders are completed on private property that have been abandoned. Liens places on properties where taxes are not being paid is a waste of funds as there are charges related to filing the lien that will never be reimbursed. The most likely scenario is those taxes will not be paid, the liens will not be paid, and the property will end up in the hands of the Peoria Country Trustee with all the taxes and liens removed. The Legal Department will continue to pursue all available options to try and collect this debt owed to the City of Peoria. All unpaid bills are attempted to be collected regardless of the collection amount.
City Manager’s ability to make this change via Emergency Powers - While the City Manager would have the ability to make this change during the emergency declaration, the change would only be in place for that time frame. In order to achieve budget saving and adjustments to the process, the change would need to be in place for the remainder of the year.
Placement of laid off or furloughed employees into temporary Code Enforcement Aide positions - If other positions were eliminated from other Departments and the temporary Code Enforcement Aide positions still remain, the Community Development Department will work with the HR Department at placing employees into these temporary positions if possible. Considerations will include skill sets, employees meet minimum job requirements, technology availability and vehicle availability.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: While this communication does not reduce the budget of the Community Development Department, the ordinance change will lessen the impact of potential cuts related to eliminating temporary Code Enforcement Aide positions and reducing the Weed and Litter contract.
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS: Increasing the allowable length of grass for private property will be a major concern for our neighborhoods. Tall grass leads to rats, mosquitoes and other pest issues. In addition, tall grass/weeds are a major blighting condition for our neighborhoods that will lead to decreased property value. In addition, taller grass allows litter to collect more frequently.
IMPACT IF APPROVED: Code Enforcement Inspectors will not cite private property until the length of grass is fifteen inches.
IMPACT IF DENIED: Code Enforcement Inspectors will continue to enforce the ordinance as written. If the budget cuts occur, their will be a significant delay in response time and the weed and litter budget will likely be exhausted by late summer.
ALTERNATIVES: NA
EEO CERTIFICATION NUMBER: NA
WHICH OF THE GOALS IDENTIFIED IN THE COUNCIL’S 2017 - 2032 STRATEGIC PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION ADVANCE?
1. Financially Sound City
WHICH CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S) FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION IMPLEMENT?
1. Keep taxes and fees competitive.
DEPARTMENT: Community Development