The Owensboro city attorney’s office on Tuesday was authorized to begin collecting outstanding debts owed to the city, and judicial action can be taken if deemed appropriate.
City Attorney Mark Pfeifer said the office plans to file mass foreclosures to collect delinquent property taxes and nuisance abatement liens from owners that are not maintaining their property appropriately.
Pfeifer said they identified 56 properties in the city with sufficient unpaid taxes or nuisance abatement liens. The office contacted owners last month and several owners responded that they will pay their delinquent taxes to avoid foreclosure.
The remaining will be split into two groups; one will be filed for a petition of foreclosure before the end of the year, the other at the start of 2022.
This is the first time a mass foreclosure has occurred in three years according to Pfiefer. They are doing this not only to maintain the vacant or neglected properties but to also alleviate some of the burdens on taxpaying citizens.
“Property owners who do pay their taxes are kind of forced to bear the burden of all these owners who aren’t paying their property taxes,” Pfeifer said.
In other business during Tuesday’s City Commission meeting, an ordinance was read regarding the annexation of roughly 44 acres of land located at 5369 Old Hartford Road. The land would belong to Deer Valley Subdivision LLC, a subsidiary of Jagoe Homes.
City Manager Nate Pagan noted it is not to be confused with the Deer Valley Subdivision in Masonville.
It is planned to have 137 homes in the subdivision and will be named Pebblewood. As this was the first reading, no motion was made to approve or deny.
Mayor Tom Watson also declared November National Hospice and Palliative Care Month.
Commissioners also appointed Tamara Wilson to the City Utility Commission., Robert Schell to chair the Apollo Area Neighborhood Alliance; Altaf Merchant, Chip Pride and Rafe Buckner to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
