Atlanta plans to enact a ‘blight tax’ for absentee property owners, abandoned properties

ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council, alongside Mayor Andre Dickens, is ready to enact what they call a blight tax on absentee property owners and the owners of neglected or abandoned property in the city.

As proposed by Dickens and Councilmember Byron Amos, owners of abandoned or neglected properties could see their tax bills increase by 25 times the current Atlanta property tax rate.

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“This legislation addresses a key concern for District 3 residents, who have for too long been subjected to neglected, blighted properties whose owners are content to wait to cash in,” Amos said in a statement. “The Blight Tax will give us much greater leverage in persuading these owners to clean up their property or sell them to a better steward who will.”

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For larger scale properties, the proposal would also make the owners agree to a detailed redevelopment plan. The plans would have to address what the city called neighborhood objectives related to connectivity, transportation and public amenities.

The mayor’s office said the proposed blight tax would be used “to crack down on neglected properties that contribute to blighted conditions and disinvestment in Atlanta neighborhoods.”

According to the plan, the ordinance would let the city push property owners to either fix or redevelop the blighted properties while empowering the municipal court to impose the blight tax on the properties in question, “fundamentally changing the economics of neglectful land speculation.”

Any properties that are occupied would be exempt from the blight tax program to ensure nobody living there is involuntarily displaced.

“Since taking office, our Administration has moved with urgency to address substandard housing and root out negligent property owners,” Dickens said in a statement. “This new policy will equip the City with a powerful tool for cracking down on corporate, absentee owners who treat property as a cheap investment vehicle rather than part of the fabric of our communities.”

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