1. The board of county commissioners of a county may adopt by ordinance procedures pursuant to which the board or its designee may order an owner of nonresidential property within the county to cover or remove graffiti that is placed on that nonresidential property to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the residents of the county and to prevent blight upon the community.

2. An ordinance adopted pursuant to subsection 1 must:

(a) Contain procedures pursuant to which the owner of the property is:

(1) Sent notice, by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the existence on the owner’s property of graffiti and the date by which the owner must cover or remove the graffiti; and

(2) Afforded an opportunity for a hearing and an appeal before the board or its designee.

(b) Provide that the date specified in the notice by which the owner must cover or remove the graffiti is tolled for the period during which the owner requests a hearing and receives a decision.

(c) Provide the manner in which the county will recover money expended for labor and materials used to cover or remove the graffiti if the owner fails to cover or remove the graffiti.

3. The board or its designee may direct the county to cover or remove the graffiti and may recover the amount expended by the county for labor and materials used to cover or remove the graffiti if:

(a) The owner has not requested a hearing within the time prescribed in the ordinance adopted pursuant to subsection 1 and has failed to cover or remove the graffiti within the period specified in the notice;

(b) After a hearing in which the owner did not prevail, the owner has not filed an appeal within the time prescribed in the ordinance adopted pursuant to subsection 1 and has failed to cover or remove the graffiti within the period specified in the order; or

(c) The board has denied the appeal of the owner and the owner has failed to cover or remove the graffiti within the period specified in the order.

4. In addition to any other reasonable means of recovering money expended by the county to cover or remove the graffiti, the board may:

(a) Provide that the cost of covering or removing the graffiti is a lien upon the nonresidential property on which the graffiti was covered or from which the graffiti was removed; or

(b) Make the cost of covering or removing the graffiti a special assessment against the nonresidential property on which the graffiti was covered or from which the graffiti was removed.

5. A lien authorized pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection 4 must be perfected by:

(a) Mailing by certified mail a notice of the lien, separately prepared for each lot affected, addressed to the last known owner of the property at his or her last known address, as determined by the real property assessment roll in the county in which the nonresidential property is located; and

(b) Filing with the county recorder of the county in which the nonresidential property is located, a statement of the amount due and unpaid and describing the property subject to the lien.

6. A special assessment authorized pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 4 may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary county taxes are collected, and is subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary county taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of county taxes are applicable to such a special assessment.

7. As used in this section, “nonresidential property” means all real property other than residential property. The term does not include real property owned by a governmental entity.

(Added to NRS by 2001, 849; A 2015, 2111)