For 91 years, Benjamin Sullivan has lived in Pleasant Hill. He knew everyone who lived on his street, but now, half of the homes are empty.
“This used to be one of the top neighborhoods in Macon Georgia. Everyone used to own all of these homes,” said Sullivan.
Three blighted homes are on his block of First Avenue. Squatters lived in one of the homes and the old store at the end of the street has notices for no taxes paid.
Tax commissioner Wade McCord says he has over 600 blighted homes in Macon with taxes owed that he just can't sell.
Bibb commissioners approved of McCord’s idea to offer the blighted properties for less than taxes owed but more than $400.
“I’m not wiping the taxes. I can still have that tax burden against the individual that owned the property,” said McCord.
He says some tax money is better than nothing.
Commissioner Bert Bivins says the county has yet to set aside enough money to fix the issue.
He says a few years ago the commission vowed to spend $23 million to attack the issue.
A second proposal allows for the commission to spend SPLOST dollars to tear down blighted structures.
“I figured we try them, but if they don't work, we can make some adjustments to try to make them work better,” said Bivins.
Sullivan says whatever the county tries to do to fix the problem, he’ll stand behind them. He hopes the effort will make bring his street back to the point it used to be.
A third proposal also presented at Tuesday night's meeting from commissioner Joe Allen.
Allen suggests increasing taxes on properties labeled as blight. Allen's proposal was deferred to the blight ad hoc committee. It's expected to be discussed next Tuesday and voted on the following week.