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City manager urges legislature to clear long-held foreclosed properties off municipal rolls
Summary
City Manager Penny Thompson said she submitted testimony supporting LD 745, a pending Maine bill that would ease municipal processes for disposing of long-held foreclosed properties, and told council such a change could let the city liquidate blighted properties — though proceeds may have to be returned to former owners.
City Manager Penny Thompson told the council March 10 that she submitted testimony in support of proposed state legislation, LD 745, which is intended to let municipalities move long-held foreclosed properties back into private ownership and back onto the tax rolls.
Thompson said the city holds properties foreclosed years ago that require staff time to manage and often need demolition or substantial repair. She said municipalities that support LD 745 expect to be able to liquidate some properties and get them back on the tax rolls, though she warned proceeds from sales may still have to be returned to former owners under current rules. Thompson noted the city’s finance and administrative staff are already burdened, and that selling or managing many properties would impose additional workload even if municipal authority to sell were clarified.
Thompson encouraged council members to watch a legislative hearing scheduled March 12 and said passage of the bill could help address blight and potentially increase taxable property value, while cautioning the city should not rely on proceeds in the current budget because sale timing and net proceeds are uncertain.
