By the code

The valley's housing meltdown has exacted a heavy toll on neighborhoods. Abandoned, foreclosed homes have brought down home values everywhere, frustrating neighbors who maintain their properties.

Southern Nevada's local governments have codes to keep residential areas from turning into junk yards and weed habitats, but 15-day cleanup notices and fines aren't much of a deterrent when the out-of-work owner has left town and an out-of-state bank holds the mortgage. Clark County, for example, currently fines property owners between $50 and $200 per day up to a maximum $10,000.

County staff believe stiffer fines might get homeowners moving a bit sooner on the messes they've made. Later this month, commissioners will consider increasing code violation fines to $1,000 per day, on top of cleanup and repair costs, to a maximum of $730,000.

"We're not looking to make money, said Joe Boteilho, the head of Clark County code enforcement. "We just want people to comply."

But if the county is creating steep fines simply to scare homeowners, why not assess $1 million per day for code violations? For goodness sakes, white collar criminals and imprisoned thugs rarely face fines that top five figures.

Neighborhood blight is a legitimate taxpayer concern, but big fines are the wrong approach in the current economic climate. It's counterproductive for the county to codify a fine structure it has no interest (allegedly) in collecting, and which countless homeowners can't possibly afford. In case commissioners have forgotten, the local unemployment rate is 13.9 percent.

The best way to get neglected properties cleaned up is to get new owners and new residents, which is exactly what's happening from Spring Valley to Sunrise Manor. Investors and first-time homebuyers are snapping up discounted properties, making repairs, pulling weeds and moving in -- or moving in tenants. Either way, people are living at the address, making it easier for the county to hold someone accountable for code violations.

The city of Las Vegas has made the mistake of putting liens on abandoned properties, which transfer to new owners who have every intention of making them habitable. Such liens discourage investors from buying blighted homes and ensure the properties remain neglected for an even longer period.

County staff insist they're more concerned with owner-occupied homes, and say they'd like to impose even tougher penalties on rental properties, abandoned houses and foreclosures. That's an even worse idea.

The county's current code-violation fine structure is appropriate for the offense. Anything more is just piling on.