11 Pa.C.S. § 127A10 – Notice of assessment and appeal of charges

(a) Notice of assessment.— Upon receipt of the statement of costs from the department, either for a summary abatement pursuant to section 127A03 (relating to summary abatement) or for an abatement with notice pursuant to section 127A04 (relating to prior notice of abatement), the city treasurer or other financial officer of the city designated by council shall, in accordance with section 127A04(b), give notice of the amount set forth in the statement of costs to the owner and lienholders of the property upon which the public nuisance has been abated. The notice shall state that the city proposes to assess against the property the amount set forth in the notice and that objections to the proposed assessment must be made in writing and received by the designated officer within 20 days from the date of mailing the notice.
(b) Lien.— Upon the expiration of the 20-day period if no written objections have been received by the officer, the total amount of costs, fees and penalties specified in the statement of costs may be entered as a lien against the property on which the nuisance was abated and shall be collected in the manner provided for the collection of municipal claims and liens, subject to rights of appeal provided in this section.
(c) Administrative review.— If objections of the owner or a lienholder are received by the designated officer prior to the expiration of the 20-day period, the officer shall refer the matter to the department for administrative review.
(d) Procedure.— The city shall, by ordinance, provide a procedure by which the department shall make a determination regarding any timely filed objection and by which an appeal of the department's determination may be made to the appeals board referred to in section 127A06(b) (relating to appeal after notice and hearing).
(e) Final administrative decision.— The determination of the appeals board shall be a final administrative decision within the city.
(f) Reduction or cancellation of assessment.— The department, in administrative review, or the appeals board, on appeal, may reduce or cancel a proposed assessment if it is determined that any of the following did not conform to the provisions of this chapter:
1. (1) The notice to remove the nuisance.
2. (2) The work performed in abating the nuisance.
3. (3) The computation of charges.
(g) Elimination of civil penalty.— The department, in administrative review, or the appeals board, on appeal, may reduce a proposed assessment by eliminating the civil penalty portion of the statement of costs if any of the following apply:
1. (1) The current owner did not own the property at the time the notice required in section 127A04 was posted.
2. (2) The owner did not receive the notice to remove the public nuisance, did not have knowledge of the public nuisance and could not, with the exercise of reasonable diligence, have had knowledge of the public nuisance.
  Cross References. Section 127A10 is referred to in section 127A11 of this title.