Gwinnett County property owners with vacant, rundown, or unsafe properties could soon face a tax bill seven times higher than normal — or a significant break if they clean things up.
What’s happening: The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance last week that took effect September 1. It allows the county to designate certain properties as blighted and multiply their general fund property tax rate by seven until the owner fixes the problem. Owners who do fix it get a 50% reduction in that same tax rate for three years afterward.
How a property gets labeled blighted: The county’s Department of Planning and Development handles designations. A property must meet at least two of the following conditions to qualify:
- Structures that are unsafe, abandoned, uninhabitable, or not suited for their intended use.
- Inadequate ventilation, light, air, stormwater drainage, or sanitation.
- Unsafe access.
- Serious environmental contamination.
- Repeated illegal activity on the property.
- Unresolved code violations.
What’s new: Gwinnett County did not previously have a formal mechanism to financially penalize owners of blighted properties or reward those who remediate them. The ordinance creates both. Clayton, Cobb, and DeKalb counties have run similar programs…