The Milwaukee Common Council has approved an ordinance requiring each applicant before the Board of Zoning Appeals and the City Plan Commission to submit a signed affidavit indicating whether they owe the city money for a range of items, including delinquent property taxes and assessments, unpaid judgments and outstanding health and building code violations.
The ordinance's author, Alderman Robert Bauman, said the new requirement will provide city officials with an important tool they can use to collect unpaid taxes, judgments and fines - as well as a means to get property owners and landlords to comply with code violation orders and to make sure they abate nuisances.
"It makes no sense for the City of Milwaukee to reward applicants with special zoning permits, special use permits and other privileges when they're otherwise thumbing their noses at the city by dodging orders, not paying taxes and generally not satisfying their obligations with the city," said Bauman, chair of the council's Public Works Committee. "The ordinance puts the onus on the applicant to disclose whether or not they have 'clean hands' when it comes to taxes, fines and code violations."
City council approves 'clean hands' ordinance
Operand type clash: text is incompatible with int
advertisement
Sorry, the story you tried to comment on is not accepting comments.