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Glynn Brunswick Land Bank director asks county to keep transferring county tax deeds to land bank and to fund operations
Summary
Taylor Ritz, newly hired administrative director of the Glynn Brunswick Land Bank Authority, asked commissioners for continued transfers of county tax deeds, access to county tax records for research, and initial operating support so the land bank can stabilize and redevelop vacant and clouded‑title properties.
Taylor Ritz, administrative director of the Glynn Brunswick Land Bank Authority, briefed Glynn County commissioners on the land bank’s mission and projects on Sept. 17 and requested continued cooperation from the county tax office and seed funding for operations.
Ritz said the land bank—created by an intergovernmental agreement between the city and county in 2017—focuses on vacant, abandoned and title‑clouded properties that do not generate tax revenue. "The main purpose is to bring non‑revenue generating property back onto the tax roll," she said. Ritz is the land bank’s first hired employee and said the volunteer 7‑member board recently approved transfers of some county‑held tax deeds.
Ritz walked commissioners through the land bank’s application and disposition process: an interested transferee files an application, staff conduct title searches and outreach to affected entities, the land bank extinguishes back taxes and provides quiet title where feasible, and the property is transferred to a designated transferee under a disposition schedule with transfer fees that help replenish land‑bank resources. Ritz noted discounts in administrative fees for nonprofits, government entities and county employees.
She cited several active projects: 120 Saxon Street (county tax deed, assessed at about $100,000, proposed transfer price around $45,000 to a county employee transferee that would cover administrative and legal costs), a multi‑lot redevelopment on Niles Avenue that converted one lot with two uninhabitable structures into three lots with two occupied homes and a third under construction, and a historic renovation at 1315 Union that began in 2023 with a multi‑year rehabilitation schedule. Ritz asked for access to the county tax system to run delinquent property reports to speed property research.
The county Tax Commissioner addressed the board after the presentation, saying staff identified roughly 300 county‑owned properties, that an initial phase of processing generated about $600,000 more revenue than anticipated, and that a subsequent phase will begin Oct. 1. The Tax Commissioner offered to provide more detail after the meeting. Commissioners did not take action at the session; Ritz left materials for follow‑up.
