Publications

Property Tax System

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

Laying the Foundation
Developing an Improved Approach to Problem Properties in Rockford

This report shares the findings from our technical assistance engagement with the City of Rockford, Illinois.

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

Developing a Shared Vision and Strategies to Address Vacancy and Abandonment in the City of St. Louis
A Community Progress Technical Assistance Report

This report shares the findings from our technical assistance engagement with the City of St. Louis, Missouri.

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

A Conservative Analysis of Costs Imposed by Vacant and Blighted Properties in Toledo
Conducted at the Invitation of the Junction Neighborhood

This report shares the findings from our technical assistance engagement with the Lucas County Land Reutilization Corporation about the Junction neighborhood in Toledo, Ohio.

Local Analysis, Property Tax System

Catch or Release
An Analysis of Residential Tax-Foreclosure Conveyance in Flint, Michigan, between 2008 and 2015

This report examines and compares indicators related to tax-foreclosed residential properties in Flint, Michigan via the two existing systems: the Treasurer’s public auction and the land bank authority.

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

Vacancy and Abandonment in the City of Indianapolis, Indiana
A Community Progress Technical Assistance Report

This report shares the findings of Community Progress’ 2016 technical assistance engagement with the City of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Local Analysis, Property Tax System

Detroit’s Property Tax Policies and Practices
An Opportunity for Reform

This brief calls attention to the importance of Detroit’s property tax policies and practices in the city’s overall revitalization efforts, and offers some recommended actions, and longer term considerations for improving this system.

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

An Assessment of Vacant and Abandoned Properties in Wilmington, Delaware
A Community Progress Technical Assistance Report

This report shares the findings of Community Progress’ 2014 technical assistance engagement with the City of Wilmington, Delaware.

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

Analysis of Bulk Tax Lien Sale
City of Rochester

This report shares the findings of Community Progress 2012 assessment Rochester, New York’s bulk tax lien sale process and in rem tax foreclosure process.

Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System, State/National Analysis

Long-Term Stress and Systemic Failure
Taking Seriously the Fiscal Crisis of America’s Older Cities

This report – written for America’s older cities in the wake of the recession, but with lessons for all cities that face fiscal stress – suggests a new approach to end the cycle of decline that has trapped many municipalities.

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

Regenerating Youngstown and Mahoning County Through Vacant Property Reclamation
Reforming Systems and Rightsizing Markets

As part of the National Vacant Properties Campaign’s policy assessment report for the Youngstown-Mahoning County Vacant Properties Initiative, the study team compiled the results of its research and interviews into five program briefs, which offer a snapshot of the city and county’s vacant property programs and practices as of 2008.

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/National 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/National 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/National 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.