State-owned abandoned properties are all over Jackson. See what the council wants done

The City of Jackson is littered with abandoned properties that have been forfeited to the state due to nonpayment of taxes and many have fallen into disrepair, creating public health hazards.

The Jackson City Council wants something done about it.

Currently, the city has 2,431 state-owned tax forfeited properties, according to the Secretary of State's office, that is charged with keeping track of all the properties. The tax-forfeited lands are then held by the state's Public Lands Division and put up for sale.

According to the secretary of state's map, a majority of Jackson's state-owned abandoned properties are located in Wards 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

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Discussion on the matter occurred during the council's Tuesday meeting, with Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes bringing the topic up after an agenda item called for the city to spend $3,499 fixing state-owned property "that constitute a menace to public health, safety and welfare."

Overall, the council reluctantly approved spending $37,730 on cleaning up five state-owned properties. Two were in Ward 5, one in Ward 3, one in Ward 6 and one in Ward 7.

Ward 6 Councilman and Council President Aaron Banks requested the total dollar amount the city has spent in the past five years "to show what we are spending on state-owned properties." He then proposed sending a letter to state lawmakers "so that they can bear some responsibility" and get "maybe some type of reimbursement."

"They're state-owned properties but the city's paying for it," Stokes said. "The state has way more money than we have and it seems like there should be a plan in place where the state can give to this city a timeframe of where we're going to have all houses torn down by the state, all lots cleaned that are owned by the state.

"I can't prove it, but I can almost assure you that in other jurisdictions, other cities, there's a roadmap. All cities throughout the state of Mississippi have state-owned property, but in the City of Jackson it's such an eyesore that people just can't believe the reality of this."

Stokes finished by saying dilapidated tax-forfeited properties hinder the city's ability to bring in business and tourism. He asked if it was possible to sit down with state officials and see what can be done about the problem.

"It's concerning to me because they (the state) need to be held accountable," said Ward 2 Councilwoman Angelique Lee. "We're held accountable because they're in our wards and we have to justify the conditions and we're diverting money that we could be using for other things."

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Speaking after the meeting, Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley had choice words on the state's disregard for tax-forfeited properties in Jackson.

"They're violating the state's own public health and safety laws by not taking care of these properties," Hartley said. "The state is actively in the crime business whether they know it or not. These abandoned properties are havens for drugs, for every type of criminal action you can imagine."

Hartley proposed creating legislation that would give cities or municipalities a percentage of the money collected from the sales of these tax-forfeited properties, which can then be used to maintain the properties. He also called on the state to set-up regulations on how tax-forfeited properties should look as not to let them become public health hazards.

"They need to have some type of codes or some type of regulation that says 'hey when we get these properties in, they will be maintained to this level,'" Hartley said, adding that he has been in discussion with some legislators, but action has been slow.

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Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote, who has a map in his office of the state-owned abandoned properties, said it can be hard for the state to get them sold because "there's not much market for them right now."

"But when these things are abandoned … it undermines the values of the properties around them," Foote said. "It undermines the quality of life for the citizens around them."

Foote proposed an agreement between the secretary of state's office, law enforcement agencies, the city, the county and the state to create a task force that would address the issue, which he likened to "stage five cancer for the City of Jackson."

"Go in and take out swaths of the city that might have 5, 10, 15, 20 abandoned properties and reinvent that whole area so that it's suitable for communities and neighborhoods," Foote said. "It could be take them down, could be repurpose them. Some of them could be salvageable … it is going to take an effort with parties all agreeing that they've got skin in the game, and it benefits everybody."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson MS City Council wants state to help with state-owned properties