§ 70-15. Professionals' fees.

(a)

Fees of village professionals charged back. Whenever either the village board, village clerk or any other village official has authorized a developer and/or property owner to contact the village attorney, engineer or any other of the village's professional staff, or the village board, village clerk or other village official contacts, said village attorney, engineer or any of the village's professional staff, and said contact results in a charge to the village for that professional's time and services and said service is not a service supplied to the village as a whole, then and in that event the village clerk shall charge that service to said developer and/or property owner for the fees incurred by the village unless otherwise directed by the village board.

(b)

Developer and/or property owner allowed time to pay. The village clerk shall give each developer or property owner billed for professional services 30 days to pay. In the event the charge remains unpaid after 30 days, then the village clerk shall notify the village professionals of said nonpayment and the village professionals shall cease providing any professional services on that account unless advised otherwise by the village clerk. In addition, the village clerk shall charge one and one-half percent interest per month on all amounts unpaid after 30 days. Payments made on the account shall first be applied toward interest due and then to the amount owed. In the event amounts due are unpaid after 90 days then the village clerk shall notify the property owner that the billing will be referred to the village board and that the village board will hold a hearing to determine whether any of the following actions should be taken: refer the bill to collection, authorize the village attorney to commence a lawsuit, place a stop work order on any development or charge the delinquent bill against the current or next tax roll as a delinquent tax against the property as provided by law. In the event the statement rendered to the property owner or the time given for the property owner to pay is too late in the current year for the charge, when it becomes delinquent, to be extended on that year's tax roll, then the delinquent charge shall be extended to the following year's tax roll.

(c)

Escrow or reserve accounts for certain projects. When large or complex projects, subdivisions and/or projects requiring a development agreement are submitted to the village for its review and approval the developer and/or property owner shall establish an escrow or reserve account, the "account," with the village clerk. The account will be debited for payment of professional services required by the village during the review and construction of such projects. The village clerk shall distribute monthly statements to the developer or property owner who established the account. The amounts in the account shall be determined by the village administrator, in consultation with the village planner and/or engineer, for no less than $2,000.00 or more than $5,000.00 during the concept and design review and approval phase. During the construction phase the account shall be no less than $5,000.00 and no more than $10,000.00. The account shall be replenished to the specified and required level within 20 days when the balance is reduced to $1,000.00 or less. If the account is not replenished in a timely manner, the village clerk shall notify village professionals of said nonpayment and they shall cease providing any professional services on that account unless and until advised otherwise by the village clerk. Funds remaining in the account will be returned to the developer and/or property owner in a timely manner after the project is complete.

(Ord. No. 707, § I, 3-18-03; Ord. No. 790, § I, 3-21-06 Ord. No. 843A, § I, 4-19-11)