Back from blight: Trustee program has returned $675K to Winnebago County taxing bodies

February 12, 2022|By Kevin Haas|In Local, Rockford, Top Stories, Featured
This vacant lot at 2379 Sandy Hollow Road in Rockford is one of more than 500 for sale through the Winnebago County trustee program. The program is meant to reduce blight and get abandoned properties back on the tax rolls. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A program that aims reduce blight and get publicly owned properties back on the tax rolls has returned more than $675,000 to taxing bodies so far.

That’s according to Mayor Tom McNamara, who praised the Winnebago County trustee program on Friday as it enters the final days of its latest online property sale.

The Region 1 Planning Council took over the program in spring 2020 after the county cut its affiliation with a Decatur real estate firm that had run live auctions for about 30 years. Officials said the previous program left properties in a perpetual state of blight.

Related: More than 500 publicly owned properties for sale in Winnebago County

But since Region 1 took over, more than 475 properties have been sold for a combined total of more than $1.5 million, McNamara said.

“You’re seeing properties in our community that are really blighted, and really dragging down people’s property values, getting maintained at a higher level and getting sold and getting back to being productive properties,” McNamara said.

The program is intended to reduce blight and improve neighborhoods by getting abandoned properties acquired by the government back on the tax rolls. Each of the properties for sale had at least three years of delinquent taxes, and no buyer purchased the tax certificate.

By getting them back into private ownership it pumps revenue back to local schools and government agencies as owners again start paying property taxes.

Related: Countywide property values hit highest level since 2010

The latest online auction of more than 500 publicly owned properties ends at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15.

Properties range from vacant land to commercial and residential lots. The minimum bid for a vacant lot is $500 and $1,000 for a property that contains a structure.

You can see all the properties for sale here.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rmgmwf.com or follow him on Twitter @KevinMHaas.