Junk in your yard? Better watch your paycheck

To punish the worst of code violators, the county will soon begin to garnish wages and income.

By JOSH ZIMMER
Published May 5, 2005

TAMPA - In the barnyard of life, they are the biggest pigs: chronic code violators who refuse to pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines for trashing their properties and bugging their neighbors.

Hillsborough County isn't powerless. It can put a lien on the property or file for foreclosure, unless it is the person's homestead.

Soon, though, officials will have a new weapon at their disposal, one they hope will squeeze the last ounce of resistance from scofflaws.

Commissioners Wednesday approved adding the power to garnish wages and income. Dexter Barge, director of the county's Department of Housing and Community Code Enforcement, said Hillsborough may be the only county in Florida to enact the measure.

"This is only going to be used in the worst of the worst cases," he said.

The county is not stopping there. The department is looking into the option of criminally prosecuting some violators, as the city of Tampa does.

But while researching the issue, the county attorney's office came upon a 4-month-old program in Detroit. The city hired three full-time hearing officers with the power to garnish wages or bank accounts.

The attorney's report says garnishment could be cheaper and even more effective than prosecuting violators. One reason is that state law doesn't allow local governments to foreclose on homesteaded property.

The recent moves highlight the frustration government officials feel toward people who stubbornly thumb their noses at local codes, which are designed to maintain safety and uphold appearances.

In Hillsborough, several cases involving accumulated fines of more than $100,000 prompted officials to seek tougher solutions beyond the lengthy process of citations and grace periods.

Consider one property in Brandon cited by chief code enforcement investigator Jim Ellington. It has piles of trash, debris, auto parts, dilapidated cars and an unpermitted mobile home. The owner has accumulated fines of about $210,000 since 1996, code enforcement records show. The amount is three times the value of the property.

"He's not alone in this world," Ellington said, summing up his frustration.

[Last modified May 5, 2005, 01:26:13]