Modestine and Edward Rister live on Harwood Drive in west Macon.
They keep the grass in their yard cut, but say down the street, there is more than one blighted home with overgrown grass and lots of trash.
“It’s a jungle. We've worked hard to have what we have. We work hard for it, but it’s so disheartening to have to pass that,” said Rister.
“I’ve tried to sell these properties 2 and 3 times.” Wade McCord, Bibb County's tax commissioner, says he has 637 properties taken for unpaid taxes that they just can't sell and are decreasing in value.
McCord says something has to be done before blight grows. He's come up with five ideas to use or unload those properties, including offering the properties free to deputies and first responders, using them for pocket parks or neighborhood gardens and offering purchasing incentives
Commissioners asked the county attorney to come up with a more concrete proposal and suggest their blight ad hoc committee look it over.
The Risters say they welcome anything the county can do to help.
“We want the best we can get and I think we deserve better,” said Rister.
They're sick and tired of people treating the place they love to live like trash.
Wade McCord says right now if a property doesn’t sell at the original tax auction sale, he has to keep trying, but this option would allow for commissioners to discuss a remedy before taking it to a second sale .