Clair County plans to launch a land bank in the coming days, a plan officials said will improve the development of tax-foreclosed properties.

County Treasurer Kelly Roberts-Burnett and the county's metropolitan planning commission already have set up an agreement with the state's land bank.

Starting tonight, they will seek public input and partnerships with area municipalities, housing nonprofits, economic development groups and the Community Foundation of St. Clair County.

The land bank "takes property that is unproductive, inasmuch as it has habitually gone through tax foreclose, and it allows the community to turn that property around and make it productive once again," said Bill Kaufman, executive director of the county's metro planning commission.

"I think it will definitely help," Roberts-Burnett said. Once a land bank has control, it can work to demolish structures, clean the property or transfer unbuildable land to neighbors -- among many other options.

Roberts-Burnett said such intervention is needed because out-of-state developers will often buy such land without ever seeing it. "If we have these properties that have issues with them, we can take whatever steps necessary to resolve the problems."

The number of tax foreclosures in the county increased by 25% from 2008 to 2009, or an increase from 42 in 2008 to 52 in 2009.

A property enters tax foreclosure after three consecutive years without paying taxes.

Roberts-Burnett said land banks, a growing trend in Michigan, help to stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods.

"Certainly having a dilapidated property brings down values," she said. The land bank "would help the landowners if we got that cleaned up."