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before a citation is issued, though that savings is difficult to predict since the cost of a citation <br />can vary and relatively few citations are issued in any given year. <br />Excessive Consumption <br />Excessive consumption is another way to attempt to recover some of the costs taken up by <br />chronic public nuisance offenders. Roseville is currently looking at this as an option and New <br />Brighton currently uses a form of it. With excessive consumption, properties that are repeat <br />offenders, which require additional reinspections, or take up an excessive amount of staff time, <br />are billed for that time. The bill can be in the form of a flat rate for each inspection done, or an <br />actual calculation of the amount of staff time taken up by the property. Initial discussions with <br />the City of Roseville indicate that these bills, if unpaid, might be able to be assessed against a <br />property. Staff is exploring this option more with the City Attorney and the City of Roseville. <br />Recommendation <br />Despite the possible implementation of an administrative fine program some properties will <br />undoubtedly still have code violation issues. The primary goal of an administrative fine program <br />is to obtain compliance, which, despite the City's best efforts, can take time and diligence no <br />matter what tools are available. <br />While having an administrative fine program available as a tool for Staff might be useful in a <br />few situations, it is unlikely that such a program would have a broad or significant impact on the <br />City's code enforcement activities. Adopting such a program has benefits, provided that the <br />limitations of administrative fines are understood. The benefits of the program must also be <br />weighed against the cost of implementing and administering it. Based on Staff s research, it is <br />questionable if administrative fines would be an effective use of resources. Nevertheless, <br />administrative fines are a potential tool to the extent that they facilitate compliance with the <br />certain code violations and may reduce the need for civil or criminal citations. <br />Attachment. <br />A — Code Compliance Policy and Process <br />B — July 31, 2008, Letter from the City Attorney <br />C — Example Administrative Fine Code — City of North Oaks <br />City of Arden Hills <br />City Council Work Session for October 19, 2009 <br />IlMetro-inetlardenhillsWdminl CouncilWgendas & Packet Information12009110-19-09 WorksessionlPacket Information110-19-09 -Work Session <br />- Admin Fines.doc <br />Page 5 of 5 <br />