Last week, county officials approved the $10 sale of an abandoned East Oakland property to the Black Cultural Zone to build affordable housing on it.
The overgrown lot on MacArthur Boulevard had racked up years of unpaid taxes, fines, and fees that exceeded the value of the land itself. Unable to find a buyer at auctions, the county tax collector employed a rarely used tool called a Chapter 8 tax sale. With this tool, the county can essentially give away tax-defaulted properties to organizations that will use them for the public benefit.
Henry Levy, the county’s treasurer and tax collector, told the Board of Supervisors last week that his office had identified nine other vacant Oakland properties eligible for this sort of transfer. A city report reveals which properties the government is eyeing…