Barnesville city council unanimously passed its blighted property code after hearing objections from Jere F. Moore, who outlined his stance in a column in last week’s Herald Gazette. ’It’s a result of trying to find a mechanism for removing blighted properties, which are numerous,’ said Mayor Peter Banks. ‘It contains many safeguards for property owners. This isn’t something we’re doing to raise revenue. Money raised will go toward the cost of this ordinance.’ Now in agreement with Lamar County’s proposed code ‘“ it raises the taxes on unoccupied property by a factor of six once it is declared blighted ‘“ the new regulation requires more than one complaint before an initial inspection and an appeals process that stretches all the way to superior court.
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