BATH – A plan to redevelop vacant, abandoned and tax-delinquent properties in Steuben County got a boost Friday (March 24), with the announcement the county will receive $500,000 for use in its land bank.
State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced a total of $20.9 million in new grants will be distributed to 19 land banks in the state set up to protect homeowners and neighborhoods across the state by acquiring abandoned properties and returning them to productive use. The grants include $500,000 for Steuben's land bank, which was created in July 2016. "We are grateful our application has resulted in state funding for an important element in our economic and community development," said county Deputy Manager Mitch Alger. "The Steuben County Land Bank will provide the county and partner municipalities with another tool to combat rundown properties that are foreclosed or tax-delinquent, while improving neighborhoods and getting these homes back on the tax rolls." The county Legislature set up the nonprofit Steuben County Land Bank Corporation in July and expects to partner with a local non-profit agency to oversee operations. Steuben expects to rehabilitate or demolish up to 10 properties over the course of the two-year grant. In addition, the award will support start-up costs associated with getting the land bank up-and-running. Once properties become marketable, they will be sold and the proceeds returned to the land bank for future rehabilitation of other properties, Alger said. "Communities throughout New York are still suffering the fallout from the housing crisis, and my office will continue to support innovative efforts to help them recover," Schneiderman said, in a prepared release.
The Attorney General established the initiative in 2013 with funding secured through settlements with the nation’s largest banks over misconduct that contributed to the housing crisis. Since then, the program has reclaimed more than 1,995 abandoned properties; returned more than 700 properties to market; demolished 409 unstable structures, and reserved $19 million in property value for surrounding homes, according to Schneiderman’s office.
