Atlanta leaders want to slap owners of rundown, abandoned properties with 'blight tax'

ATLANTA - Atlanta city leaders are planning a crackdown on the owners of rundown properties who have gone M.I.A.

Mayor Andre Dickens and city council member Byron Amos announced this week a proposed "blight tax." 

"What we will not do is allow you to continue to hold your property and hold our neighborhood hostage," said Amos. 

Amos just introduced the city ordinance alongside Dickens. Amid a citywide housing shortage, they want to crack down on investors and corporations that own abandoned properties that just sit there and fall apart. 

"When you talk about living in a safe, vibrant neighborhood, to have one of these properties on your corner, to have one of these properties in the middle, to have them next to our schools, to have them next to our children, it is concerning," Amos said.

An important caveat: any building that’s lived in or being used won’t be subject to this 25-times tax.

If city officials label a property blighted, the owner would first have time to make the repairs to get it up to code and occupied.

"There is still a process that you go through which includes siding you, giving you the opportunity to actually do the work, to bring your property back up to code," Amos said.

If they do, they could get a tax discount, the city said in a news release.

If they don’t, they’ll get taxed 25 times their rate on January 1.

Forest Park implemented a similar ordinance in March. 

Amos says the proceeds from the extra tax would go into the city’s general bank account.

"If they have to pay that 25 times the normal amount, hopefully, that will be the encouragement they need to actually move that property [fixed up.]"

Amos said the ordinance was working its way through committees this week and the following.

He hopes to bring it before the full council for a vote in early August.