How Are Non-Tax Cities Recovering Abatement Costs?”

Hey everyone,

I’m reaching out to see how other Georgia cities without a municipal property tax (no ad valorem millage) are handling cost recovery for nuisance abatements, cleanups, and demolitions.

Here in Thomasville, we frequently have to abate properties that are vacant or abandoned, and recovering those expenses has become a major challenge. We’re looking into options like utility-based billing, municipal liens, and even foreclosure authority under O.C.G.A. §§ 41-2-9 and 36-60-13.

My main questions are:

• How does your city bill or recover abatement costs if you don’t have property-tax billing?

• What process do you use when the property has no active utilities?

• Have any of you successfully used lien recording or foreclosure to recover funds?

Any insight, sample ordinances, or workflow examples would be greatly appreciated.
Feel free to reply here or reach out directly, it would be great to compare approaches among other non-tax cities.