GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Property owners who let a building sit and fall apart in Gwinnett County are about to pay a lot more, under an ordinance county commissioners passed with no debate.
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If the county labels a property blighted, the part of the tax bill that funds county operations goes up seven times. School taxes are not affected.
The ordinance says rundown property “increases the burden of the state and local government,” pulling in social services, police and code enforcement that the rest of the county pays for.
The property has to be developed and it has to endanger public health or safety, shown by at least two problems the ordinance lists. Those include unsafe buildings, abandoned or not suited to what they were built for, poor ventilation, drainage or sanitation, a blocked way in or out of a non-residential building, and contamination serious enough to require a cleanup study.
One kind of property is protected.
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The ordinance exempts “a dwelling house which is being used as the primary residence of one or more persons,” which leaves an empty house eligible.
An inspector files a report and the planning and development director makes a preliminary call. Owners have 15 days to request a hearing before a county appeals board, then 30 days from that board’s decision to take it to superior court.
Kirkland Carden represents District 1 and campaigned on the idea when he first ran in 2020.
“This is going to be for your chronically depressed properties that just have a history of neglect,” Carden said. He listed old hotels, shopping centers and warehouses.
Owners who fix the problems can ask the county to lift the label. The rate then drops to half of normal, a break the county attorney, Jenny Carter, told commissioners lasts three years.
Gwinnett is not the first. Carden said Clayton, Cobb and DeKalb counties already have blight taxes, along with Macon-Bibb and Augusta.
“The end goal is to activate these properties, get them on the tax digest where they’re living up to their full potential,” Carden said.
Carden said he will work with local business groups and code enforcement to find candidates. No property in the county carries the label yet.
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