§ 6-38. Costs.

(a)

Costs and expenses that may be recovered and enforced against a violator under this article include, but are not limited to:

(1)

The city's direct cost for abatement;

(2)

Costs of salary and all applicable overhead of city staff and contract personnel involved in the investigation, enforcement, and/or remediation or abatement of a violation;

(3)

City costs for equipment use or rental;

(4)

Attorney's fees;

(5)

Hearing and/or court costs including but not limited to hearing officer and witness fees;

(6)

Costs of engineering and other technical services and studies as may be required;

(7)

Costs of monitoring programs necessary for correcting, monitoring, abating or mitigating violations;

(8)

Any other fee, cost, or expense reasonably and rationally related to the city's enforcement action(s) to bring violation(s) into compliance or to abate and/or correct a violation of local, state or federal law.

(b)

At any point in the enforcement process after the time for voluntary compliance has expired, or following the conclusion of the city's enforcement/abatement action(s), the city agency having enforcement responsibility shall notify the violator of the proposed full cost recovery against the real property that was the subject of enforcement/abatement action. The notice issued must provide a cost schedule and contain a date not less than 30 days from the date of mailing providing a hearing with an administrative hearing officer to appeal the accuracy and reasonableness of the costs.

(c)

If payment is not received within 30 days of the mailing of the notice of the full cost recovery, or following any appeal hearing upholding all or part of the costs, whichever occurs later, the city may lien the property that was subject to the enforcement/abatement action for all applicable costs by recording the cost recovery notice or administrative hearing judgment affirming appropriate costs in the Records Division of the Office of the Clerk of Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans.

(M.C.S., Ord. No. 25455, § 1, 8-22-13; M.C.S., Ord. No. 27799, § 1, 6-21-18)