Publications

Property Tax System

Land Banks, Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System

An Assessment of Land Banking and other Tools to Transform VAD Properties into Affordable Housing in Prince George’s County, Maryland
A Community Progress Technical Assistance Report

Community Progress produced this report following a technical assistance engagement with Prince George’s County, Maryland to explore whether a land bank could be leveraged to support local affordable housing goals.

Code Enforcement System, Local Analysis, Property Tax System

Preliminary Assessment of Vacancy and Abandonment Challenges in Utica, NY
A Community Progress Technical Assistance Report

The City of Utica, New York engaged the Center for Community Progress to carry out a preliminary assessment of the City’s policies, programs, tools, and operations in place to address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties.

Code Enforcement System, Land Banks, Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System

Exploring Equitable, Effective, and Efficient Solutions to Vacancy and Abandonment in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
A Community Progress Technical Assistance Report

This report shares the findings of Community Progress’ 2019 technical assistance engagement with the City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina to help local officials and their partners better understand the systemic causes of and solutions to problem properties.

Code Enforcement System, Land Banks, Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System

Preliminary Assessment of Vacancy and Abandonment Challenges in Ogdensburg, New York
Observations and Recommendations

This report shares the findings of Community Progress’ 2018 technical assistance engagement with Ogdensburg, New York to support the development of a more effective, efficient, and equitable approach to problem properties.

Code Enforcement System, Land Banks, Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System

Neighborhood Stabilization in Waterbury, Connecticut
Recommendations to Build a More Proactive and Comprehensive Approach to Vacancy and Abandonment

This report shares the findings of Community Progress’ 2017 technical assistance engagement with Waterbury, Connecticut to assess existing systems, policies, and tools used to address vacant and abandoned properties.

Property Tax System, State & Local Analysis

What Does the Sale of Property Tax Debt Mean for West Virginia Communities?
A Report on Delinquent Property Tax Enforcement and Vacant Property for West Virginia Reformers

This report shares the findings of Community Progress’ 2017 technical assistance engagement with the Huntington Urban Renewal Authority and its partners in West Virginia to build awareness around the urgency to solve VAD property issues in the state.

Code Enforcement System, Land Banks, Property Tax System, State & Local Analysis

Aligning the Tools: Addressing Vacant, Abandoned, and Deteriorated Properties in Tennessee
A Community Progress Technical Assistance Report

This report shares the findings of Community Progress’ 2017 technical assistance engagement with Memphis, Tennessee to coordinate three key legal tools to address vacancy and abandonment.

Code Enforcement System, Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System

The Cost of Vacant and Blighted Properties in Pittsburgh
A Conservative Analysis of Service, Tax Delinquency, and Spillover Costs

In order to raise awareness of the true costs of vacant and distressed property in Pittsburgh, in 2016 the City of Pittsburgh retained the Center for Community Progress to perform a “cost of blight” study.

Code Enforcement System, Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System

Implementing a Coordinated Approach to Address the Systemic Causes of Vacancy and Abandonment in High Point, North Carolina
A Community Progress Technical Assistance Report

This report shares the findings from our technical assistance engagement with the City of High Point, North Carolina.

Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System

Assessment of Baltimore City’s Tax Sale System
Impacts on City Finances, Vacant Properties, and Vulnerable Owner Occupants

This report shares the findings from our technical assistance engagement with the City of Baltimore, Maryland.

Code Enforcement System, Land Banks, Local Analysis, Property Tax System

Enhancing Capacity to Repurpose New Jersey’s Vacant Properties
How to Advance Community Goals Through Land Banking and Other Tools

This brief is a product of the New Jersey Land Bank Launch Initiative. The competition for land (with and without structures) is being felt acutely across the Garden State. Since the pandemic, many New Jersey communities have seen markets flip almost overnight, with an influx of new residents who had…

Property Tax System

Policy Brief: Tyler v. Hennepin County in 2024
Updated Analysis and Policy Reform Options

Updated analysis for 2024 about the implications of Tyler v. Hennepin County on communities’ ability to tackle vacancy properties.

Code Enforcement System, Property Tax System

Progress Points: Heirs’ Property
How Tangled Title Can Lead to Property Vacancy, Abandonment, and Deterioration

This factsheet explains why it’s important to deal with heirs’ property in order to prevent future vacancy and abandonment.

Property Tax System

Policy Brief: Tyler v. Hennepin County
Analysis and Policy Reform Options for State and Local Governments

What state and local government leaders need to know to reform their property tax foreclosure systems after Tyler v. Hennepin County.

Land Banks, Local Analysis, Property Tax System

Transforming Raton’s Abandoned Properties into Community Assets
A Community Progress Report for Raton, New Mexico

This report outlines state and local policy and practice recommendations to tackle vacant and abandoned properties in Raton, NM.

Local Analysis, Property Tax System, State & Local Analysis

From Harm to Home
Replicating Detroit's Make it Home Program

Analyzing cities that have the potential to implement a program similar to Detroit’s Make it Home, transitioning tenants to homeowners.

Property Tax System

Reimagine Delinquent Property Tax Enforcement
How to Reduce Vacancy, Advance Racial Equity, and Improve Public Services

This publication lays a general foundation for understanding the property tax system, but specifically focuses on ways to reform the delinquent property tax enforcement process for vacant properties—those properties that pose the greatest harm to a community.

Land Banks, Property Tax System, State & Local Analysis

The Scale and Cost of Blight in Michigan
A One-Page Brief

This one-page explainer provides an overview of what it would cost to tackle all of Michigan’s vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties.

Property Tax System

Progress Points: Delinquent Property Tax Enforcement
A Brief Primer

This brief explains how equitable, efficient, and effective property tax enforcement can be powerful tool in interrupting the cycle of neighborhood decline.

ARPA, Code Enforcement System, COVID-19, Land Banks, Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System, State & Local Analysis, Vacant Land Stewardship

Tackling Vacancy and Abandonment
Strategies and Impacts after the Great Recession

Ten years on from the Great Recession, we take stock of lessons learned from that crisis and how they might be applied to future challenges. This edited volume, jointly produced by Community Progress and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Cleveland, contains twelve articles by national experts in the field of neighborhood revitalization.