ASHLAND — The Ashland County Land Bank voted Friday to acquire two vacant lots in Cinnamon Lake in which buyers have expressed interest.
Cinnamon Lake has a large number of vacant lots due to children inheriting land they do not want, plans falling through, and people leaving because of increased water taxes and fees, members of the land bank said during their meeting.
“There’s too many properties where people might’ve bought it when it was brand new, thinking it was going to be the future site of their dream home, and their dreams were shattered,” Ashland Mayor Matt Miller said.
The Cinnamon Lake HOA is interested in buying one of the plots of land, while a neighbor is interested in buying the other.
Many of these vacant lots owe thousands of dollars in back taxes after years of vacancy, which deters buyers. Normally, real estate taxes on a vacant lot are less than $100 a year, Ashland County Treasurer Angie McQuillen said.
But Cinnamon Lake received a new water system from the Rural Lorain County Water Authority in 2017, requiring residents to pay for it. When no one pays these fees for a lot, they are assessed onto the real estate tax for that lot, McQuillen said.
The two properties the county acquired Friday had more than $7,000 and $12,000 in back taxes.
Without the land bank’s involvement, a buyer would have to pay the back taxes for any of the vacant lots they buy from the owners that abandoned it. This has deterred individual buyers and the Cinnamon Lake HOA from buying these lots, McQuillen said.
But when the land bank acquires a vacant lot, the back taxes are written off by the state, McQuillen said. The land bank could then sell the vacant lot for only around $500.
As such, The Cinnamon Lake Homeowners Association is “practically begging” the land bank to help them “get their mess cleaned up,” Miller said.
The land bank also acquired a vacant lot on Pearl Drive in Loudonville at its Friday meeting. Â
