Owners of blighted properties in Macon-Bibb County could pay higher property taxes next year under an ordinance county commissioners passed Tuesday morning in a special called meeting.
In 2019, Macon-Bibb enacted a new “blight tax” that charges property owners seven times the millage rate for properties on the county’s blight list, but Mayor Lester Miller’s millage rate reduction from 20.692 to 9.575 removed some of the incentive to keep properties well-maintained.
“It means people who have not done what they’re supposed to do, mostly absentee owners from other jurisdictions, have let their property go down,” Miller explained after a 30-minute executive session.
The owners of dilapidated property were still paying the higher blight tax rate, but their tax bill was diminishing with each millage reduction.
Commissioners unanimously agreed to more than double the millage rate multiplier to 15. Atlanta’s blight tax uses a multiplying factor of 25, by comparison, Miller said.
Macon-Bibb County reinvests all of that additional revenue into its blight remediation program.
The new ordinance that takes effect next year also adds the Bibb County School System to the program, which will help replace any lost property tax revenue if voters approve the pending senior citizen homestead exemptions next year.
Both the county and the school system will pay 5% of the blight tax to the tax commissioner for administrative fees.
Since its inception, the blight tax only applies to commercial and residential properties where no one is living.
“A dwelling house which is being occupied as the primary residence of one or more persons” shall not be subject to increased taxation, the ordinance states.
Miller said the increased tax mostly is designed for speculative properties where the owner is holding onto the property in hopes future development nearby could raise its value.
For added incentive to make repairs, mitigate blight and be removed from the blight list, property owners could see a 50% reduction in property taxes for at least a year .
Senior Assistant County Attorney Michael McNeill said owners can pay reduced taxes for up to four years depending on how much they spend to rehabilitate a property.
If they shell out over $25,000, owners get a second year of a 50% reduction in taxes. Renovations costing over $50,000 get a third year of the half-rate, and work totaling more than $75,000 earns a fourth year of the 50% reduction.
“They just have to submit their receipts and an affidavit showing how much it cost to do the rehab,” McNeill explained.
Paving roads, group homes, body cameras
Miller called Tuesday’s special meeting to make up for last week’s meeting cancellation when some commissioners were out of town for a conference, and to approve nearly $7 million in additional paving contracts to be paid from 2025 SPLOST bonds.
As the county identifies more paving contractors or has developments on its other projects, like the new arena, more called meetings could be necessary to meet deadlines, Miller said.
Macon-Bibb also agreed to spend $700,000 from the Home Investment Partnership Program for the River Edge Foundation to build two, four-bedroom group homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
River Edge CEO Cass Hatcher said the homes will complement the new Crisis Services and Diagnostic Center behind the Bibb County Jail by providing permanent residences for those who are stabilized at the new facility.
The state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities is providing the rest of the funding as they build about 10 similar facilities across the state.
“These homes will be for people coming from the state hospital to put them in a residential setting and to basically get rid of people living in state hospitals for the rest of their lives,” Hatcher said.
River Edge will staff the homes that will be built on nine acres at its Life Spring treatment center at College Crossing near Middle Georgia State University.
“This is a great initiative by the state and we’re happy to be a part of it and we’re happy to have the county support this effort,” Hatcher said.
Commissioners also agreed to spend nearly a $1 million dollars in school speed zone camera revenue to renew the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office’s Axon contract for body cameras and tasers.
The county also accepted a $42K grant from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division under the Scrap Tire Abatement Reimbursement program to compensate Macon-Bibb County for removing old tires.
The county also allocated $230,000 in Community Development Block Grants to Rebuilding Macon for its youth volunteer program and home repairs.
From the 2018 SPLOST, the county approved $2.4 million in renovations to the Round Building and other facilities at Carolyn Crayton Park, and nearly $140,000 for improvements at North Macon and Filmore Thomas parks and the Frank Johnson Recreation Center.
Here are highlights from the meeting captured in social media posts:
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-301-2976.
