MOULTRIE, Ga. — The city’s new Blighted Property Ordinance went through its third reading and was approved during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

This is a joint venture between the city and county as both entities see this as an opportunity to fix a problem that has been an issue in the city for quite some time.

There are more than 250 blighted properties inside and outside the city limits that need fixing up with the most appearing in Northwest and Southeast Moultrie, and this ordinance is designed to encourage property owners to take responsibility for their properties.

Property owners will be given a chance to clean their property and if they don’t their next tax bill on Dec. 10 will be multiplied by four. That includes both city and county taxes, City Manager Pete Dillard said.

Robin Lawson, Prevention Division supervisor/fire investigator/inspector at the Moultrie Fire Department, described what makes a property blighted.

“A blighted property is uninhabitable due to the fact that it doesn’t meet code or because it’s deteriorating,” Lawson said. “Most of the time these type of properties are brought up to us through complaints and … we investigate the property and see if it meets code. If it doesn’t we write them up. Afterward we attempt to notify the owner and if no contact is made, they take it to court and the case is presented to the judge, who decides what will happen next.”

The city and county hope the massive tax increase will encourage people with blighted property to either clean it up themselves or sell it to someone who will. Dillard said some positive incentives — such as property tax rebates — might also be available to encourage owners to clean up their property.

He was very optimistic about the potential of the new ordinance.

“We have been working on this for six months or more,” Dillard said. “The state of Georgia passed some legislation to support this. I talked to the mayor from Jackson, Ga., and she cleaned up 31 different properties with a similar ordinance and we are hoping to have the same result when we put this in play.”

Owners will have until the next tax bill to either clean the property or find something to do with it. Dillard said the city and county came together on this not to punish people but to keep the neighborhoods cleaner, safer and to improve property value.