Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Tax Possession topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State law change complicates city’s Abutters‑Lots plan for small tax‑possession parcels
Summary
City attorneys and the treasurer told the council that a 2024 state law revision (effective Nov. 1) changes how municipalities must market and sell tax‑possession parcels, requiring broker marketing and minimum sale thresholds that make the city’s low‑price abutters‑lots program unworkable without an ordinance change.
City legal counsel and the treasurer briefed the council on the Abutters‑Lots program and the impact of a change in state law that took effect in late 2024. The Abutters‑Lots program had been designed to let owners adjacent to small, unbuildable city parcels buy them back at nominal fixed fees (for example $250–$1,000 depending on lot size); those sales are intended to remove nuisance lots from city rolls and to return small parcels to neighboring property owners.
Treasurer and special counsel explained the legal change: Chapter 64 (as enacted in the 2024 session) requires tax‑possession parcels to be marketed through a real‑estate broker for one year and, after broker marketing, to be offered at auction with a minimum sale price equal to three‑quarters of the appraised fair market value. That standard means many undersized, unbuildable parcels the city hoped to convey through the Abutters‑Lots process would have to be appraised and could not be sold at nominal fixed prices without an ordinance change.
City staff told the council they have about 23 parcels in tax possession; many are wetlands or undersized lots and a few are improved parcels (a former tavern site that is now used as a community garden, and a parcel on Linwood Street). Staff recommended proceeding more quickly on municipal‑owned vacant parcels the council controls (about $14 million in combined estimated value) under the municipal‑property side of the Abutters‑Lots program, because the statutory changes do not restrict sale of municipally owned vacant parcels the same way they now restrict tax‑possession sales.
Why it matters: the Abutters‑Lots approach was intended to reduce blight and return tiny, non‑market parcels to adjacent homeowners at low cost; the state law change prioritizes market valuation and return of sale proceeds to state and local accounts, limiting municipalities’ ability to clear small parcels at nominal fees without changing local ordinance.
Next steps: city staff recommended the council direct real estate committee review of parcels, consider an ordinance amendment to reconcile the Abutters‑Lots pricing schedule with the new state law, and proceed with RFPs or broker marketing for parcels that must follow the new process. The treasurer’s office will provide the council with the list of tax‑possession properties and associated background documents for committee review.
Selected clarifying details: Treasurer: city has 23 parcels in tax possession; most are wetlands or undersized and several date back decades. Staff legal note: the new law requires a broker marketing period and a minimum sale price of 75% of appraised value for tax possessions, limiting the existing nominal‑fee Abutters‑Lots rules.
