Resident urges Lancaster County to adopt vacancy and blight tax to address long-term empty properties

John Guzak, a Lancaster County resident from Kilmarnock, urged the Lancaster County Board of Supervisors on April 10 to adopt a vacancy tax and a blighted building tax to address long-term commercial and residential vacancies that he said are harming local tax revenue, housing availability and downtown character.

Guzak said the county should use a tax as “a tool to combat vacancies and blight,” arguing that long-term empty storefronts and houses reduce sales and property values and increase local costs for code enforcement. He cited a downtown Kilmarnock grocery that has sat empty for decades and said, “If the owner of this single property must begin to pay a 3% penalty tax the town will collect an additional $16,320 every year until it’s…