When Atlanta leaders passed the most aggressive blight tax in Georgia in 2024, they pitched it as a way to crack down on neglected properties, while generating revenue for affordable housing.
“Make no mistake about it: This is a war on blight,” District 3 City Councilmember Byron Amos, who authored the ordinance, warned negligent property owners in fall 2024. “There’s a new sheriff in town.”
But Atlanta has yet to collect a dollar of the blight tax approved in August 2024, according to a February audit by the City Auditor’s Office. Meanwhile DeKalb County will roll out its own blight tax program by June, just nine months after passing the enabling legislation…