The City of Pratt Land Bank asked county commissioners to help acquire and clean up the blighted property at 420 Ohio St., which the land bank said appears to require demolition and could support redevelopment such as a duplex.

The land bank’s chairman argued the city already covers certain municipal assessments and that buying the property now would speed demolition and reuse. He said special assessments for mowing and upkeep have been added over multiple years and that the city could face a loss if it paid contractor costs now and the sheriff’s-sale recovery hierarchy leaves city special assessments at the end of the distribution.

County counsel described two procedural routes: (1) leave the parcel to the normal sheriff’s-sale process and, if it receives a bid, confirm the sale with other properties, which is the faster and simpler option; or (2) proceed outside the sheriff’s-sale sequence with additional court motions and public-notice steps, which would require more county attorney work and add cost. The county attorney estimated the out-of-cycle process could add roughly four to six hours of legal work and extra steps to set a confirmation hearing.

Commissioners weighed recovering the county’s extra processing costs versus getting the property cleared quickly and back on the tax roll. One commissioner expressed concern that spending county tax dollars to buy the parcel on behalf of the city might effectively double-charge city taxpayers for county services. Another noted the property has been derelict for many years.

After discussion and a short offer placed live from a remote participant, the commission voted 3–0 to return the property to the upcoming sheriff’s sale rather than pursue the out-of-sequence transfer process. Commissioners noted that moving the property through the normal sheriff’s-sale path could result in the quickest confirmation and transfer if it receives a bid; if not, the county and city can revisit out-of-sale options later.