Owners of blighted property in Gwinnett face taxes seven times higher than other properties

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.

What this means for property owners: If your vacant property is designated as blighted, your general fund property tax rate increases sevenfold until the problem is resolved. The higher rate does not apply to school taxes, and it does not apply to occupied homes. Owners who get a remediation or redevelopment plan approved by the county and stay on track with it avoid the tax increase entirely. Owners who disagree with a blight designation can appeal to the county’s Board of Construction Adjustments and Appeals.

Who’s behind it: District 1 Commissioner Kirkland Carden pushed for the ordinance since his 2020 campaign. He said the program is aimed at properties with long histories of neglect. “This is going to be for your chronically depressed properties that just have a history of neglect,” Carden said. He pointed to old hotels, shopping centers, and warehouses as likely targets. “Every Gwinnett resident deserves to live in a clean, safe and thriving neighborhood,” he said. “This ordinance allows us to hold negligent property owners accountable, while also giving support if they choose to step up, clean up and reinvest in our community.”

Matt Dickison, the county’s planning and development director, said the county plans to start by notifying property owners about the new rules. “Our focus is on moving properties from a state of disrepair to a productive one,” Dickison said. “We’ll inspect sites with repeated code violations and safety hazards and give owners a structured process to remediate the issues.”

The concerns: Critics of similar programs in other parts of the country have raised questions about who gets to define blight and what that power means in practice. Advocates for low-income residents, the elderly, and people with disabilities have argued that property owners in those groups may not have the money to make repairs, even if they want to, and that a sevenfold tax increase could push them toward losing their property rather than fixing it. The ordinance passed without public debate at the commission meeting.