The Greene County board of supervisors at its March 30 meeting took steps to make it a little easier for cities to deal with abandoned properties. The supervisors approved the first readings of a pair of ordinances that allow cities (or the county, in the case of rural property) to bid on and purchase delinquent taxes on abandoned property.
The current method for dealing with delinquent property taxes would not change. When property taxes are delinquent for six months, the treasurer sells a tax certificate for the property. The high bidder pays the delinquent taxes, and if the bidder pays the taxes for the next two years, he can eventually receive a deed to the property. At any time, the property owner can redeem his property by paying the back taxes plus interest. That money, including the interest, goes to the person who purchased the taxes at the tax sale. The entire process takes about three years. According to Greene County treasurer Donna Lawson, of the 150 or so parcels for which the taxes are sold each year, about a dozen are eventually claimed by the bidder without being redeemed by the property owner.
The county ordinances would allow the county or cities to bid on taxes on properties that are abandoned and are deemed to be suitable for rehabilitation. Cities would be required to verify that the parcel is abandoned and suitable for housing following rehabilitation, or that it is a vacant lot.
Additionally, properties that are deemed to be a public nuisance would be listed separately on a “public nuisance tax sale.” Private bidders on those properties would be required to enter into an agreement with the city to rehabilitate the property should it not be redeemed. Cities or the county could also bid on those properties.
The Code defines “abandoned” as a lot or parcel with a building that has been vacant and is in violation of a city’s (or a county’s) housing code for a period of six consecutive months.
Keith Conroy of Jefferson has purchased delinquent taxes in the past, and he asked the supervisors to clarify the process that would be used.
“The biggest purpose for our action is the nuisance, the properties that we just couldn’t get cleaned up,” board chair John Muir said.
Board member Dawn Rudolph said, “It’s trying to save all the hoops people have to jump through to get some of these dilapidated properties back on the tax roll, get them functioning.”
According to supervisor Guy Richardson, “The ones we’re trying to get are the ones no one wants anyway.”
According to the Code, money would not be paid by the county or city for a purchase, but each tax-levying body (the school district or medical center, for example), would be charged with its share of the tax due as its “just share” of the purchase price.
The city of Jefferson has in the past two or three years undertaken an aggressive program to deal with vacant and dilapidated houses. The county ordinances would give the city more tools in that undertaking.
The ordinances were modeled after a Crawford County ordinances. The supervisors approved the first reading of the ordinances, but planned to get information from Crawford County officials about how they have been used there, particularly about waiting period during which property owners can redeem the property, before moving to the second reading. Three readings and publication of the ordinances will be required before they become effective.
