Muncie, IN
Housing, Built environment | 2025
Used property tax sale data to advance equitable, community-driven reuse of tax-delinquent properties in two historically Black neighborhoods.
Indiana tax sales are intended to recover delinquent taxes and encourage the redevelopment of neglected properties for better uses. However, in historically Black and other disinvested neighborhoods, properties frequently go unsold, remain abandoned, or get acquired by speculative buyers whose intentions do not align with neighborhood stabilization goals. Muncie Land Bank analyzed 10 years of tax sale data to better understand the scope and scale of this challenge.
The neighborhoods of Whitely and Industry identified the need for a strategy that would transform tax-delinquent properties into assets for equitable, community-driven development. To complement the tax sale analysis and inform neighborhood strategies, the Muncie Land Bank partnered with students at Ball State University as part of an ongoing data-collection effort by the Department of Urban Planning. Project-affiliated students interviewed approximately 200 community residents and conducted follow-up focus groups. The project team also assessed the exterior conditions of properties in Whitely and Industry, using a July 2025 update of Google Maps Streetview for one neighborhood and conducting a neighborhood walking survey in the other.
Muncie Land Bank summarized findings about tax sale data for individual tax sale purchasers, the city, and the neighborhood. Key findings showed that at the city level, most properties offered through the tax sale do not sell; 22 percent appeared at three or more tax sale auctions. These repeat-unsold properties are concentrated in Whitely and Industry, where tax debt accumulates, properties remain vacant, and conditions and values continue to decline. Persistently unsold properties indicate limited market demand and the need for policy interventions to return them to productive, community-supported uses. By making visible the neighborhood-level impacts of the tax sale process, the project equips residents, community organizations, and public officials with data to advocate for policy changes, target stabilization efforts, and prioritize limited redevelopment resources.
Project findings are included in a comprehensive report with policy recommendations focused on redirecting repeat-unsold properties to interventions that support neighborhood stabilization goals. Key tax sale data will also be published on a publicly accessible dashboard. The dashboard will allow residents, policymakers, and community organizations to better understand tax sale patterns and support data-informed neighborhood revitalization.