1.24.100 Waiver of appeal fees.
A. Except as provided in Section 1.24.040 of this chapter, the city clerk may waive the fee required for filing an appeal as specified in Section 1.24.010 of this chapter or in any other applicable city code section if the appellant meets the requirements of this section.
B. The party seeking the fee waiver must be the real, and not nominal, party in interest, and the appellant shall not be granted a waiver if there are any interested parties financially capable of paying the fee. No person shall be granted more than one waiver per six months.
C. Subject to the limitations of subsection B of this section, waiver of the fee shall be granted by the city clerk if the applicant declares under penalty of perjury and the city clerk determines that the applicant is receiving benefits pursuant to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and State Supplemental Payments (SSP) programs (Sections 12200 through 12205.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program (42 United States Code 601 through 644), the Food Stamp program (7 United States Code 2011 through 2027) or Section 17000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code or the appellant declares under penalty of perjury that their monthly income is one hundred twenty-five (125) percent or less of the current monthly poverty threshold annually established by the Community Services Administration pursuant to Section 625 of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, as amended.
In addition the city clerk may waive the appeal fee if: (1) the applicant has declared under penalty of perjury that the appellant cannot pay the appeal fee without using money needed for the common necessities of life; and (2) the city clerk determines that the statements in the declaration are true. The clerk may require the appellant to furnish such financial information as the clerk deems necessary to make a decision.
The decision of the city clerk on the fees waiver shall be final and conclusive and there shall be no appeal to a city body or official from said decision.
D. An appellant desiring waiver of an appeal fee shall apply for the waiver at the same time as the appeal is filed. Said appellant shall furnish within two working days, the information requested by the city clerk to substantiate the waiver request. If the information requested is not furnished within said two working days, the city clerk may deny the fee waiver request. After an appellant requests waiver of the appeal fee, the applicable dates or time periods for hearing the appeal shall be tolled until the city clerk decides the fee waiver request.
E. Any person who willfully provides the city clerk with false statements of material facts is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof is punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment of a period of not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (Prior code § 2.06.490)
