Shelby County’s Land Bank presented its FY2025 annual update to the Core City Neighborhoods and Housing committee on Oct. 1, detailing acquisitions, sales, maintenance costs and program changes. The committee approved two resolutions—an extension of lot‑maintenance contracts and the sale of 73 county‑owned delinquent‑tax parcels—and heard staff describe operational challenges and new initiatives.

Esther Sykes Wood, land bank administrator, summarized the agency’s year and operational priorities. She reported the land bank’s long‑running mission "to return tax sale properties to [the] tax base and help remediate blight," and said the agency operates under Tennessee law establishing land banks (Tennessee Code Annotated § 67‑5‑2507). Sykes Wood said the land bank completed dozens of dispositions, handled thousands of service tickets and carried out dozens of demolitions and board & secure actions. "We acquired 577 DTPs. We sold 584," she said during her presentation and added the land bank handled “over 11,000 service tickets,” 38 demolitions and 54 board‑and‑secure actions in the year she reported.

The committee approved a four‑month extension of the countywide grounds maintenance contract with multiple vendors, at an amount not to exceed $548,208, to allow seasonal lot maintenance while the county reissues a new request for proposals; the vote was 4‑0. Staff said the RFP issuance was delayed by internal changes to local contracting (MBE/LOSB) and a departmental redraft.

The committee also approved the sale of 73 county‑owned delinquent‑tax parcels to identified purchasers for a collective total of $483,528.75; the land bank reported the combined back taxes owed on those parcels totaled $960,271.16 and that the net negative back‑tax collection relative to those sales was $476,742.41. The sale resolution cited Tennessee Code Annotated § 67‑5‑2507 as the authority.

Sykes Wood highlighted several operational issues: rising maintenance costs, a previously informal arrangement in which the City of Memphis collected incidental debris (now discontinued) that has increased per‑lot costs, slow utility cutoffs (two to four months) that delay demolitions, and deed processing times that can run two to six months after a sale, which frustrates buyers. She said the land bank’s maintenance line includes almost $1 million for cutting lots and removing incidental debris, tree removals and cleanups for illegal dumping.

Sykes Wood described a number of programmatic efforts: participation in a Memphis Brownfields Coalition to seek federal remediation grants, bundling parcels to make redevelopment more attractive to developers (her example: a 45‑parcel bundle in District 7 now in site‑plan review), an online bidding tool and a public computer in the land bank lobby for applicants. She said the land bank has revised DTP sales procedures and implemented a reversion review process tied to neighborhood conservation contracts.

Committee members asked about ‘‘sliver’’ parcels and the procedures for notifying adjacent landowners; Sykes Wood said a prior state law allowed small parcels to be donated to adjacent owners but that provision was removed and the land bank is exploring alternatives. She also said some slivers appear to be mapping or deed errors and that the land bank has begun reconciling records back to 2020.

The land bank report was provided as information; the contract extension and parcel sales were approved by the committee and will be forwarded with a favorable recommendation.