According to the Decatur City Commission’s agenda for this evening, the commission will take up the issue of whether the city should serve as a municipal partner with DeKalb County to establish a “DeKalb Regional Land Bank”.

According to a note from Planning Director Amanda Thompson (page 24 of the meeting materials), Georgia law requires that land banks can only be created through a County/City partnership (other examples around the state: Atlanta/Fulton, Macon/Bibb, Savannah/Chatham) and DeKalb has requested that Decatur serve as its partner in this endeavor.

What’s the purpose of land banks?

According to Ms. Thompson’s note, “Land banks can purchase distressed properties, clear titles, extinguish tax liens and code violations to return the properties to the private market.”  In a county that’s “lost over 100,000 to foreclosure” since 2000, this seems to be a natural move for the County.  As for Decatur, Trulia.com shows 66 homes in foreclosure inside the Decatur city limits, 24 of which are bank-owned.

Additionally, “Land banks strategically intervene when publicly or privately owned land is not reclaimed or redeveloped into productive uses by regular market forces.”, as stated in an attached document entitled “A Quick Look at Land Banking in Georgia”.  The governing board of the land bank would be made up of two appointees from the county and two from the city of Decatur.

As for cash, Ms. Thompson clarifies that city staff are not requesting any direct funding “beyond staff time” at this point.  “Any future requests will be discussed in the 2012-2013 budget process.  We anticipate preparing a Decatur Land Bank work plan in January-February 2012.”