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A clean residential property with a mowed lawn is a great improvement over an overgrown lot topped with a long unoccupied, crumbling structure.
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann and Dr. Jim Johnston, founder of the non-profit “Revitalize Mississippi,” announced an effort to tackle this reality and improve neglected neighborhoods at a press conference today. Secretary Hosemann simultaneously announced the commencement of an online auction of 611 tax-forfeited properties in south Jackson.
The goal? Eliminating blight, breathing new life into Jackson communities, and returning tax-forfeited properties to the tax rolls to increase revenue for the city, county, and schools.
“When one of our tax-forfeited properties is restored to the tax rolls, we want it to stay there,” Secretary Hosemann said. “Revitalize Mississippi is helping us find buyers who are invested in their neighborhoods for the long haul.”
Since late 2016, Revitalize Mississippi has worked with the Secretary of State’s Office to ready tax-forfeited properties for purchase. When a person connected to the community applies to the State to purchase a parcel and indicates on their application they are working with Revitalize Mississippi, the organization cleans up the lots and performs demolition, if needed, at no cost to the buyer or the State. The State then reduces the sale price of the property to the buyer “to account for the cost of clean-up and removal.” See Miss. Code § 29-1-57.
“This is a grassroots program aimed at long-term success and sustainability,” Dr. Johnston said. “The citizens we have worked with have a great vision for their neighborhoods, and Revitalize Mississippi wants to help them achieve it.”
Newly-elected Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba is on board.
“Working together with organizations like Revitalize Mississippi, we can move Jackson forward,” Mayor Lumumba said. “I am encouraged by the commitment I have seen here today to ensure all of our communities are safe and healthy places to live and work.”
To date, Revitalize Mississippi has cleaned up 48 State-owned lots and performed 16 demolitions of deteriorated homes or other structures on State-owned lots. Demolition includes asbestos inspection and abatement. Another 190 applications related to State-owned properties remain on a wait list for clean up or demolition.
For more information about Revitalize Mississippi, visit www.revitalizeMS.org, or e-mail jim@revitalizems.org or andy@revitalizems.org.
