The Lafayette City-Parish (Louisiana) Council on Tuesday voted to make it easier to redevelop abandoned houses, messy lots and other blighted property with long overdue tax bills.
The measure, approved unanimously, allows city-parish government to forgive back taxes and put the property out to public bid or give it to a nonprofit group to redevelop.
The process applies to so-called adjudicated properties, which often sit for years in a state of legal limbo because the taxes have been neglected so long that the bill has climbed higher than the value of the property and a tax sale attracts no interest.
The new rules approved Tuesday lay out an extensive process for attempting to notify the original owners before selling or donating property, and anyone who wants to acquire the property must provide detailed plans for redevelopment.
[Photo credit: Storm Cunningham]