Land Bank selling tracts
With nine deals expected to close this month, the agency is getting sites back on property tax rolls.
The Rome-Floyd County Land Bank Authority is finally starting to return abandoned or blighted properties to the tax rolls. The authority expects to close on nine deals during September and agreed Friday to accept two more offers for vacant properties.
Rome or Floyd County can deed properties to the authority which can transact direct sales without having to go through an auction or sealed bids if the property is still in the city or county’s name. The panel, which includes David Mathis,
Rob Ware, Rick Gilbert, Roger Smith and Harry Brock, agreed Friday to set a deadline for offers on properties to be on the Tuesday at 5 p.m. before the first Friday of the month when the panel meets.
Gilbert said that in addition to a fiscal offer for the properties, potential buyers also need to list a prospective use for the property on the applications. He said the potential use for the property could be significant when it comes to future tax value.
Most of the properties would be funneled through the authority are either vacant or dilapidated, and have been acquired for non-payment of taxes.
The authority expects to close later this month on the sale of two properties on Loveless Street for $1,500; a tract at 14 Battery Drive for $1,000; a parcel at 2202 Southern St. for $500; a tract at 107 Euclid Ave. for $1,741; property at 10 Smith St. for $536; property at 19½ Stevens St. for $700 and two parcels on Donahoo Road for $10,000.
Friday, the authority agreed to sell 1409 Bobo St. for $500 and a tract on Mountain View Road for $1,750.
Bruce Ivey, Floyd County Special
Projects Manager, said the county currently has more than 180 parcels that could be transferred to the authority. Bekki Fox, the Rome Community Development director and staff liaison to the authority, said that list of properties would be posted on the joint city/ county website within the next week to 10 days. “We’ve got to expose the properties to the public to let them know they are available,” Brock said.
Ware said, “Now that we’ve got some money, let’s do some marketing.”
Not only does the authority get the proceeds from the sale of the properties, but it also gets 75 percent of the taxes generated by those properties for five years after the sale.
The panel agreed to develop a logo for the authority and post for sale signs on some of the most desirable properties.