Land Banks – Now!
Few things have a more negative effect on a community than blighted and unkept
properties. Uncut grass, boarded up businesses and broken down homes
broadcast the signs of a long slow death. With all of the heartache of
the 70s and 80s still fresh in the minds of many Western Pennsylvanians,
the PA Land Bank Act 153 enacted in 2012 is welcome relief.
This act authorizes counties and municipalities with populations of 10,000 or
more to establish land banks to remove dilapidated properties and return
them to a more productive use. In the City of Pittsburgh, approximately
35,000 of the 180,000 or so properties are vacant, abandoned and/or
facing tax foreclosure. And by no longer being productive, they are not
contributing to the tax base. In fact, these properties are actually
reducing the value of properties in the general proximity. In the end,
there is inequity – those that care about their property and being
responsible citizens are overcompensating because in the local
government world, property taxes are on the rise to fund our school
districts. If certain properties are not contributing – in Pittsburgh’s
case it’s 20% – the other properties are naturally paying more.
As a member of Mayor Peduto’s transition team, I proposed a 5 year plan of prevention,
mitigation and remediation. During the prevention phase (1 year), every
attempt is made to work with the property owner to comply with local
ordinances, maintain the property and keep it on the tax rolls at its
maximum value. If that does not work, the mitigation phase (years 2 & 3)
begins – titles are searched, the property goes ‘on the clock’ to future
investors as a property that may be available within 4 years. Also
during this phase, the property is being prepped for the early stages of
sale. In the remediation phase (final 2 years), all efforts to correct
the situation have been exhausted and the property is being prepared to
either go on the market, get torn down or whatever needs to be done to
prepare it for repurposing.
This final phase is not cheap and often the cost of demolition may exceed what is
recouped during the sales phase. But, in the end, most are confident
that the purpose of the Land Bank will benefit everyone. Especially
those hardworking taxpayers that do take pride in being part of the
American Dream.
Mark Schuster, Partner
May 19, 2014
BACK
|