New strategy helps West Palm go after neighborhood eyesores | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Good summary of West Palm Beach's successes with a new way to assess code enforcement fines. Lake Worth enacted many such code enforcement ordinances over the past year. Now we just have to get the staff together and address the Internal Auditor's recommendations. Click title for link to an article by Eliot Kleinberg of the Post:

If the city had more in liens on a home than a potential seller wanted to pay for it, then no one wants it and it continues as an eyesore — and grows worse. But if the city agrees to reduce the lien to move the property, the owner “just got away with three years of really bad behavior and everybody who lived around there had to endure it.”
Other Palm Beach County cities say they’re looking into West Palm Beach’s success and Lake Worth has adopted a similar program.
Statewide and nationwide, “There seem to be more jurisdictions moving towards having them considered special tax assessment liens, because of the presumed ease of collections,” said Michael Titmuss, chief code enforcement officer of city of Fort Myers and president of the Florida Association of Code Enforcement.