Lawrence County adopts $250 fee on certain property sales to fund countywide blight and rehab program

Lawrence County commissioners voted Tuesday to adopt Ordinance No. 1 of 2025, authorizing a $250 fee on specified real-estate tax claim and sheriff judicial sales to fund countywide demolition and rehabilitation programs administered by the Lawrence County Redevelopment Authority.

The ordinance implements language in Act 48 of 2024 and will take effect 90 days after adoption, on July 8, 2025. The fee applies to sales handled through the county Tax Claim Office and to judicial sales administered by the sheriff’s office; proceeds will be deposited in an account used by the redevelopment authority for its countywide demolition and rehab program.

Amy McKinney, who presented the proposal for the Planning Office, said the statute permitting the fee was enacted last year and that the county’s resolution and ordinance implement that state law. “It was put into place last year. It's called Act 48 of 2024. It allows county commissioners, every county in the Commonwealth to establish this ordinance where you will collect the fee by the tax claim office and the sheriff's office,” McKinney said during the meeting.

Commission discussion focused on scope and local impacts. Brian Buric questioned how the fee would affect buyers of repository and judicial-sale properties, noting the county’s minimum bid rules. “A $250 fee ... is a significant fee when our minimum bid for repository and judicial sale properties is $500 — so that's like 50% of the amount,” Buric said, and asked whether the fee would apply to land-bank or redevelopment-authority properties; McKinney said it would not apply to properties owned by the redevelopment authority but would apply to other tax-claim sales.

Board members emphasized that the law originated at the state level. Chairman Vogler said the fee adds a funding source to the program the county already runs for demolition and rehabilitation. Commissioners voted to remove the ordinance from the table and then to adopt it; a roll call showed each commissioner voting yes.

The county will route the collected funds to the redevelopment authority for use in the countywide demolition and rehabilitation program. The ordinance includes a 90-day implementation window described during the meeting; questions about program administration and specific uses of funds will be handled by the redevelopment authority once collections begin.

No public comments opposing the ordinance were reported at the meeting, and county staff said the ordinance had been advertised as required prior to final action.