Memorandum
To: City Council
From: David J. Deutsch, City Manager
Date: 4/1/05
Subject: Ordinance increasing the Fine for Municipal Infractions
When a resident of Bowie is cited for most Municipal infractions he/she receives
a fine of $50. This fee was established in 1994 and has remained at that
level for 11 years. A Municipal Infraction is usually issued only after several
warnings
have gone unrecognized and/or the Code Officer is unable to gain compliance
from the resident. The types of situations that warrant fines would include
such things as residences with peeling and chipping paint or roofs in need
of repair; properties with unregistered vehicles, vehicles parked on the
grass, car parts, appliances and other debris/rubbish in a yard; and many
other violations
as defined by the code (Chapter 1 – section 8).
The Code Compliance Division’s primary goal is to gain compliance not
to generate revenue but we find that the current fine of $50 is no longer
a significant deterrent or tool to use in gaining compliance especially in
our
more difficult and uncooperative cases. A survey has been done of other Municipalities
including College Park, Greenbelt, Gaithersburg, and Hyattsville. All have
set $100 as their initial fine for similar types of Municipal Infractions.
Fines that have been set at higher limits, such as for violations of the Sound
Ordinance, would remain at the levels specified by the Code.
Pursuant to concurrence on a poll conducted earlier this year regarding increasing
the fine for Municipal infractions from $50 to $100 the attached Ordinance
has been prepared for Council approval.
ORDINANCE
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BOWIE, MARYLAND,
AMENDING CITY CODE CHAPTER 1, “GENERAL PROVISIONS”, SECTION 1-6, “MISDEMEANOR;
MUNICIPAL INFRACTIONS; GENERAL PENALTY; CONTINUING VIOLATIONS” TO INCREASE
THE MONETARY PENALTIES FOR MUNICIPAL INFRACTIONS.
WHEREAS, pursuant to Article 23A
of the Annotated Code of Maryland, the Council of the City of Bowie, Maryland
(the “City Council”) has the authority
to pass such ordinances as it deems necessary to preserve peace and good order,
to secure persons from danger and destruction and to protect the health, comfort
and convenience of the citizens of the municipality; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Art. 23A, Section 3, the City Council is empowered designate
violations of City ordinances as misdemeanors or municipal infractions and
to impose a fine, with respect to municipal infractions, of up to one thousand
dollars ($1000.00) ; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to this authority, the City of Bowie has, in Chapter 1, “General
Provisions”, Section 1-6, “Misdemeanor; municipal infractions;
general penalty; continuing violations”, of the City Code, designated
violations of its ordinances as municipal infractions, unless otherwise specifically
provided, and imposed certain fines for such municipal infractions, unless
a fine for a specific violation is provided elsewhere in the City Code; and
WHEREAS, the amount of the general fine for municipal infractions as set forth
in Section 1-6(C)(9) has not been increased in more than a decade, is increasingly
ineffective as a deterrent, and is disproportionately low in comparison to
fines for similar conduct in other jurisdictions; and
WHEREAS, the City Council deems it to be in the public interest to amend Section
1-6 to increase the general fine for municipal infractions in the City.
Section 1. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED, by the Council of the
City of Bowie, Maryland that Chapter 1, “General Provisions”,
Section
1-6, “Misdemeanor; municipal infractions; general penalty; continuing
violations”, of the City Code be and is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1-6, “Misdemeanor; municipal infractions; general penalty; continuing
violations.
* * *
C. Municipal infractions.
* * *
(9) Fine. Whenever in this Code or in any ordinance of this City any act has
been declared a municipal infraction and no specific penalty is provided therefor,
the violator of any such provision of this Code or any ordinance shall be punished
by a fine of [fifty dollars ($50.00)] ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100.00) for the
first offense and [one hundred dollars ($100.00)] TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS ($200.00)
for every subsequent offense. Each day any violation of any provision of this
Code or of any ordinance shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that this Ordinance shall become effective thirty (30)
days after its enactment by the Council of the City of Bowie, Maryland provided
that a fair summary of this Ordinance is published at least once prior to the
date of passage and at least once within ten (10) days after the date of passage
in a newspaper having general circulation in the City.
INTRODUCED by the Council of the City of Bowie, Maryland at a regular meeting
on the _____ day of _________________, 2005.
PASSED by the Council of the City of Bowie, Maryland at a regular meeting on
the _____ day of ___________________, 2005.
ATTEST: THE CITY OF BOWIE, MARYLAND
By:
Pamela A. Fleming G. Frederick Robinson, Mayor
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND SUFFICIENCY:
______________________________
Robert H. Levan, City Attorney