It is the proverbial elephant in the room.
It costs the City major bucks each year to mow the grass.
It is a major contributor to Shreveport blight.
It is a massive source of potential city income from ad valorem taxes.
It is a land resource for additional housing.
It is a monster that grows each year in size and scope.
And nothing is being done about it.
I am referring to the 7000, give or take, properties that have been adjudicated to the City for non-payment of city taxes. Adjudicated means the title to these properties have been transferred to the City and thus the City is the owner.
Adjudicated properties are subject to the right of redemption by property owners for a period of five years from the date the title is transferred for non-payment of taxes.
Many of these properties are owned by absentee persons who are heirs of prior owners who have in effect abandoned any ownership interest. Often successions have not been completed and the title chain to various lots is legally convoluted.
Most of these properties are vacant and others have old buildings/houses, almost all of which are vacant and dilapidated,
The City of Shreveport has a list of these properties which was obtained from the Caddo Parish Tax Assessor's Office. The City cannot vouch for the accuracy of the list, but it certainly has authenticity, and it is a good place to start for identification of adjudicated properties..
The City can donate all (or some) of these to the Shreveport Implementation and Redevelopment Authority (SIRA). This would not put these properties back on the tax rolls, but it would transfer whatever ownership interest the City has, be that flawed, to this quasi-governmental agency that has more legal flexibility than the City to put these properties back into commerce.
SIRA can notify developers and the public in general that separate lots or bundles of them can be acquired from SIRA at very little, if any, out of pocket costs. SIRA can pass on the burden of cleaning up title to the properties to those that want to acquire ownership.
SIRA can, and should, also impose stringent requirements for development with timelines and other restrictions with the ultimate penalty of reversion of title back to SIRA for non-compliance. In effect SIRA can give free land with the obligations to clear title, develop it with plans SIRA approves with drop dead provisions for completion of redevelopment.
SIRA can start off with a relatively small pilot project with the adjudicated properties as a trial project. SIRA is, and has been, the owner of a five acre vacant parcel, with no title issues, in a residential area since early January of this year. To date SIRA has DONE nothing with this tract, not even placed a "FOR SALE" of a "FOR DEVELOPMENT" sign on the acreage.
SIRA's interim volunteer executive director Bonnie Moore seemingly has the mindset that no meaningful action can be taken with the five acres or the adjudicated lots until a long list of bureaucratic check the box details, including a board retreat, have been accomplished. Moore has a big government background as prior executive director of Shreveport's Community Development Department, and she is directing the SIRA board to act accordingly. This is her leadership modus operandi despite the fact that SIRA has less than $25,000 in the bank and an approved but not transferred funding in the 2025 city budget of $100,000.
SIRA has done nothing to report to the public other than accepting the donation of the five acre tract and recently paying $550,000 for an old YWCA building on PIerre Avenue that just appraised for $290,000. Nonetheless the Arceneaux administration, the MPC Master Plan consultant, the Bloomberg summer intern and others have touted SIRA to be the magic bullet to deal with adjudicated properties.
The Kool Aid must be good because seemingly everyone including the SIRA board and many elected officials have bought into this scenario. The snail's pace that is being followed leaves little hope that much will be accomplished by SIRA by mid-2026, if then. The Board can start the redevelopment of adjudicated land before getting a post office box, setting up a website, completing audits and other paperwork dilly-dallying including the hiring of a permanent Executive Director.
How Moore and SIRA board expect/hope for city funding in the 2026 budget is a mystery. If the 2025 appropriation of $100,000 or some of it has not been expended in a progressive method, or at least accomplishable plans adopted, why should the City Council fund more money for 2026. Maybe it is time to mix up some more Kool Aide and share with council members while they lament over adjudicated eyesores in their districts.
If one really wants to see bureaucracy in action, they should attend the next SIRA board meeting. And white they are there, count the number of city employees attending while on the payroll playing with their cell phones since there was no real need for their attendance. If my count was correct, at least four well paid city employees wasted 75 minute at the meeting last Wednesday.
No, I was not offered any Kool Aid, thank goodness. But who knows it may be available next month. Generally, the SIRA Board meetings on the third Wednesday of the month in the mayor's conference room beginning at 1:30 pm. Take your own paper cup.