REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
September 12, 2024
FROM: ANDREW JANZ, City Attorney
City Attorney’s Office
SUBJECT
Title
***Bill B-31 (Intro’d September 12, 2024) (For Adoption) - Amending Hearing Officer Authority, FMC section 1-409, to provide authority for limited reductions in fines. (Subject to Mayor’s Veto)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends Council approve amendments to Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) section 1-409 regarding Hearing Officer Authority, in order to provide authority for limited reductions in fines.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Administrative Hearing Officers hear appeals by constituents related to, among other things, Code Enforcement citations. Currently, when a citation is appealed to the Hearing Officer, the FMC does not allow any discretion in reducing citation amounts. This amendment would allow the Hearing Officer to reduce certain citations within guidelines established in the amendment.
BACKGROUND
Under the current FMC section 1-409, Hearing Officers have no authority to reduce a citation. Therefore, if a Hearing Officer concludes after a thorough legal analysis that the amount of a citation constitutes an excessive penalty, the Hearing Officer would be forced to dismiss the entire amount. Even if the citation was properly issued and some amount of a penalty is justified, Hearing Officers will likely dismiss the entire citation if they believe beyond a preponderance of the evidence that the amount is an excessive penalty.
This amendment would provide the Hearing Officers authority to reduce appealed citations of more than $100,000 to an amount no less than $100,000, if they find the original amount will result in an excessive fine.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a project pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not considered because this ordinance amendment does not include a bid or award of a construction or service contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
If approved, this may result in an increase of confirmed citations, which the City would be able to collect, rather than the dismissal of the citations completely.
Attachment: Proposed Amendment to FMC 1-409