A.G. Gancarski
A bill authorizing the release of 101 properties from Jacksonville’s surplus properties list cleared its first Jacksonville City Council committee Tuesday.
Neighborhoods, Community Investments, and Services approved the measure that would, if approved by the full council next week, release the properties housed in five different council districts for the development of affordable housing.
The properties, with a value of $780,000, run the gamut from a $140 vacant lot to a $59,000 single family home.
Most of the properties were seized via tax reversion.
Council members raised questions in the agenda meeting before the full meeting about where the properties were located.
Of the 101 properties, all but nine of them were in districts 7, 8, and 9.
All but 18 properties were vacant lots.
Councilman Garrett Dennis noted that “25 percent of the properties on the list” are in his district.
Movement of these properties on the list already has been slow, so the city plans to add some dollars to the RFP to incentivize development.
The cap of dollars offered to community housing and development corporations, and other developers, would be $55,000 of city funds.
Councilman Bill Gulliford noted that some neighborhoods may be “too far gone” for this investment policy, likening Jacksonville’s most at-risk neighborhoods to the enclaves of Detroit.
The committee approved the bill without objection, and it will be considered by the full council after the committee process is complete.
Jacksonville has been trying to find a mechanism to dispose of surplus properties, yet so far results haven’t matched intentions.
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A companion bill of sorts addressed settlement of nuisance abatement liens that were imposed on the properties in question before tax reversion.
Code violations add up, said CFO Mike Weinstein, who noted that charges of hundreds of thousands of dollars often are settled for a couple of thousand dollars by the city.
“The property could be worth $10,000,” Weinstein said, but the bill would exceed that.
Bills for code violations often are $250 a day, a number that adds up,
The liens, once they exceed the value of the property, make the property unattractive to investors.
The bill summary laid out the mechanism of the legislation: “This bill adds code enforcement liens to the list of items that can be settled administratively. The amendment will allow nuisance abatement liens with a principal amount of $1,000 up to $4,999 to be settled by the Director of Finance; liens with a principal amount of $5,000 to $9,999 to be settled by the General Counsel with the Finance Director’s concurrence; and liens with a principal amount of $10,000 to $99,999 to be settled by the Mayor with the concurrence of the General Counsel and the Finance Director.”
Some concern was expressed in committee regarding the disposition of commercial properties.
The bill passed the committee without a no vote.
