CHAPTER 13
FISCAL REGULATIONS
SECTION:
§2050: Interest On Delinquent Payments
§2051: Interest On Delinquent Utility Bills
§2052: City Entitled To Its Attorney Fees
§2053: Recovery Of Response Costs From Intoxicated Drivers
§2050 INTEREST ON DELINQUENT PAYMENTS
Unless otherwise expressly provided by applicable law, this code or agreement, any debt owing to the City and unpaid, in whole or in part, for more than thirty (30) days after the billing date or payment date under any contract, agreement or lease shall incur interest on the unpaid balance at a monthly rate established from time to time by resolution of the City Council, beginning on the thirty-first day and continuing until the debt is paid in full.
A. The City shall charge simple annual interest equal to the prime lending rate, as established on the effective date of the resolution codified in this section and on June 30, 1989, and on June 30 of each year thereafter, plus two percent (2%) on any payments due the City which remain unpaid, in whole or in part, for more than thirty (30) days after the billing date or payment date under any contract, agreement, or lease.
B. As provided in this section, this rate shall apply to all such unpaid bills unless a different rate is established by other Ukiah City Code section, State or Federal statute, or specific agreement approved by the City Council. (Ord. 884, §1, adopted 1989; Res. 89-32, §§1, 2, adopted 1989)
§2051 INTEREST ON DELINQUENT UTILITY BILLS
Any bill for utility services furnished by the City which remains unpaid, in whole or in part, for more than sixty (60) days after the billing date shall incur interest on the unpaid balance at a monthly rate established from time to time by resolution of the City Council, beginning on the sixty-first day and continuing until the bill is paid in full. (Ord. 886, §1, adopted 1989)
§2052 CITY ENTITLED TO ITS ATTORNEY FEES
If the City prevails in any legal action to enforce the provisions of any locally adopted code, ordinance or regulations, or the provisions of any State or Federal statute that it has duty to enforce, it shall be entitled to recover from the opposing party or parties all of its reasonable attorney fees incurred in prosecuting the action.
A. "Prevail" as used in this section means that the filing of the action contributed significantly to securing the opposing party’s or parties’ compliance with such codes, ordinances, regulations or statutes, whether as a result of voluntary compliance after the action is filed, formal settlement or judgment. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that if the opposing party or parties comply after the action is filed, the filing of the action contributed significantly to securing compliance.
B. Such fees shall be established by the court upon the filing of a cost bill as provided by law or by separate motion. In determining the amount of the fee the court shall multiply the number of hours devoted to preparing and prosecuting the action, commencing when the matter is first referred to the city attorney for enforcement, by a reasonable hourly rate for the services provided. In determining a reasonable hourly rate, the court shall consider the reasonable market rate in the jurisdiction for the attorney services, taking into consideration the attorney experience and skill and shall not be limited to the amounts actually paid by the city.
C. If there is more than one opposing party, they shall be jointly and severally liable for all of the attorney fees awarded to the city by the court. (Ord. 908, §2, adopted 1990)
§2053 RECOVERY OF RESPONSE COSTS FROM INTOXICATED DRIVERS
Any person who is under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or any drug, or the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage and any drug, and as a result operates a motor vehicle negligently or in a wilfully wrongful manner, shall be liable for the expense of an emergency response by the city to an incident caused by that person’s operation of the vehicle.
A. Definitions:
AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE: As used herein and in article 8, chapter 1, part 1, division 2 of the Government Code (commencing with section 53150), means any response by the city’s fire or police departments to an incident caused by a driver operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, including a response by an emergency vehicle, such as, but not limited to, a police car, firetruck or ambulance.
EXPENSE OF AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE: As used herein, means reasonable costs incurred by city departments in making an emergency response, including the salaries and associated overhead of providing police, firefighting, rescue and/or emergency medical services during the response, a reasonable charge for the cost of emergency vehicles used during the response, and the cost of any consumable supplies used during the response.
INCIDENT: An accident or other emergency, involving one or more vehicles and actual or imminent property damage or personal injury, including death.
B. Purpose: For purposes of this section, a person is under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or any drug, or the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage and any drug, when as a result of drinking an alcoholic beverage or using a drug, or both, his or her physical or mental abilities are impaired to a degree that he or she no longer has the ability to operate a motor vehicle with the caution characteristic of a sober person of ordinary prudence under the same or similar circumstances. For purposes of this section, the presumptions described in sections 23152 and 23153 of the Vehicle Code shall apply.
C. Liability: In no event shall one person’s liability for an emergency response exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00). However, if two (2) or more persons have liability under this section for the expense of a single emergency response, their combined liability may exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00).
D. Expense; Collection: The expense of an emergency response shall be a charge against the person liable for expenses under this section. The charge constitutes a debt of that person and is collectible by the city in the same manner as in the case of an obligation under a contract.
1. The police department shall have the authority to collect the debts created by this section and may commence lawsuits, assign the debts to a debt collection agency, and utilize the services of the finance department and the city attorney in seeking to collect such debts.
2. Before using any of the means set forth in subsection D1 of this section to collect the debt, the police department shall make written demand on the debtor for the expense of the emergency response. The written demand shall provide the debtor with the name, address and phone number of a city official who he or she can contact to protest his or her liability for the expense, the amount claimed or to arrange a payment schedule. The debtor shall have ten (10) days from the date of the demand to contact the designated official.
3. Once the time has passed to contact the official designated under subsection D2 of this section the city may set off the amount owed under this section against any amounts the city owes the debtor.
4. The remedies provided herein shall not prevent the city from collecting interest on amounts assessed under this section, if otherwise allowed by this code, or other provisions of state law or pursuing any other remedies at law or in equity to recover the amount claimed under this section and to collect that amount from the debtor. (Ord. 956, §2, adopted 1995; Ord. 1054, §1, adopted 2004)