5.50.220 Penalties.

(A)    Whenever the county makes a determination that the affected employer is in violation of this chapter, the county shall issue a written notice and order and send it certified mail or registered mail return receipt requested to the affected employer. The notice and order shall contain:

(1)    The name and address of the affected employer;

(2)    A statement that the county has found the affected employer to be in violation of this chapter with a brief and concise description of the conditions found to be in violation;

(3)    A statement of the corrective action required to be taken. If the county has determined that corrective action is required, the order shall require that all corrective action be completed by a date stated in the notice;

(4)    A statement specifying the amount of any civil penalty assessed on account of the violation; and

(5)    A statement advising that the order shall become final unless, no later than ten (10) days after the notice and order are served, any person aggrieved by the order requests in writing an appeal before the CTR hearing examiner.

(B)    The penalty for a first violation shall be one hundred dollars ($100) per day. The penalty for subsequent violations will be two hundred fifty dollars ($250) per day for each violation.

(C)    Penalties will begin to accrue ten (10) working days following the official date of notice from county. In the event an affected employer appeals the imposition of penalties, the penalties will not accrue during the appeals process. Should the hearing examiner decide in favor of the appellant, all of the monetary penalties will be dismissed.

(D)    An employer shall not be liable for civil penalties if failure to implement an element of a CTR program was the result of an inability to reach agreement with a certified collective bargaining agent under applicable laws where the issue was raised by the employer and pursued in good faith. Unionized employers shall be presumed to act in good faith compliance if they:

(1)    Propose to a recognized union any provision of the employer’s CTR program that is subject to bargaining as defined by the National Labor Relations Act; and

(2)    Advise the union of the existence of the statute and the mandates of the CTR program approved by county and advise the union that the proposal being made is necessary for compliance with state law.

(E)    An employer shall not be liable for civil penalties for failure to achieve the commute trip reduction goals established in Section 5.50.130. (Sec. 20 of Ord. 1993-01-21; amended by Sec. 7 of Ord. 1998-02-08)