Warsaw City Council approved a resolution that will allow the city to take ownership of two Warsaw properties during its meeting Tuesday night.
Through a tax sale, the city has been assigned by the county two tax certificates that will allow the city to take ownership of the properties.
The properties are a multi-family property and a multi-family home, both currently occupied, on South Buffalo Street.
The city will be allowed to take ownership of the properties if the back taxes on the properties are not paid by the building owners.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said the tax sale certificates were assigned to the city through the process of the county tax lien sale.The city was assigned the properties during the Feb. 14 county commissioners meeting.
The resolution council approved will allow the city to obtain the tax sale certificates.
Thallemer said the city will have a 120-day period to research who has liens on the properties, and see if the owners want to pay taxes on the properties.
Taxes on the multi-family property are $34,000, and on the multi-family home $16,000.
If no one files a claim or pays taxes on the properties after the 120-day period the city then acquires them.
“The city has initiated the process to take those properties over with no plans at the moment for the properties other than to acquire them,” Thallemer said.
He said the city needs to decide if the properties will become parking lots, or try to develop and sell them or sell the properties for a commercial development to get them back on the tax rolls.
“To me the concern is that the families living in the properties will be displaced,” Thallemer said.
He said the city will make every effort to give renters adequate time to find alternate housing.
“The taxes on the properties have not been paid and something needs to be done,” Thallemer said.
Councilwoman Diane Quance reminded council that the Gatke property on Argonne Road remains vacant.
She said it would be great if the tax sale properties could be sold, but feared the properties would sit vacant like the Gatke property.
Councilman Charlie Smith said he agreed the city needs to address demolition of the Gatke property.
Councilman Jeff Grose said he felt it is in the best interest of the city to acquire the tax certificate properties.
Also during the meeting, the council approved a resolution to amend the northern Tax Increment Finance district for the Warsaw Redevelopment Commission to acquire 11 acres of property north of Kohl’s.
During the meeting, the council approved Warsaw City Planner Jeremy Skinner pursuing redistricting for the city council districts.
Thallemer said the purpose of redistricting is to keep the council districts balanced from a population standpoint.
Grose said he supported redistricting of the council districts.
“I believe we need to do redistricting because the people we represent should be equally represented,” Grose said.
The council reviewed a Warsaw-Wayne Township Fire Territory report with 113 responses in January.
