Volusia To Include Liens On Property Tax Bills To Counteract Blight

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Volusia County, FL - The Volusia County Property Appraiser has announced that the County will start including code enforcement liens on property tax bills to help diminish blight.

Property Appraiser Larry Bartlett partnered with several members of the County’s Beachside Redevelopment Committee to come up with the plan. According to a release from Bartlett, complaints from citizens about blight and requests from city officials to help recover the costs of enforcing housing code prompted the creation of the plan.

“I plan to meet with our cities to answer questions and develop language that is used by all the cities when submitting their list of code enforcement liens to be placed on the tax bills,” said Bartlett. “My hope is this will help our beachside become the glittering jewel it deserves to be.”

Bartlett said that the plan will increase collection rates and will help cities and the county recover costs associated with nuisance abatement and fixing or demolishing housing that is not up to code and has been abandoned.

The liens will reimburse municipalities for the costs of bringing housing up to code. The tax bills will not include daily fines.

Bartlett said that the plan is supposed to encourage property owners to bring their properties up to code. The plan specifically targets absentee landlords and property owners who refuse to abide by code enforcement.

“The plan does not target our elderly and low-income residents who barely get by – good citizens who may not be able to pay to have their lawns mowed,” said Bartlett.

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