Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – The City of Warren Redevelopment Authority received an update on Warren County’s proposed landbank on Wednesday, with the county inching closer to that proposal becoming a reality.
“We’re really close,” said Warren County Commissioner Jeff Eggleston.
The purpose of the landbank would be to create an entity that has the power to acquire and redevelop tax-delinquent or blighted properties.
“If the city RDA chooses to participate in the county landbank, the city RDA would still operate as its own private entity,” explained city RDA director Randy Rossey. “At least one member of the landbank would be a representative from the city RDA.”
Eggleston concurred.
“Our goal is to work as transparently with the city as possible,” Eggleston said. “We’d work with you collaboratively on some projects. The goal is to augment what the city is doing.”
The wheels continue to be in motion on the county side.
“I’m making the same kind of pitch with the municipalities,” Eggleston said, noting that he had just met with Clarendon Borough on Tuesday.
“The county RDA will have an additional agency that will be the Warren County Landbank,” Eggleston explained. “There would be separate books and a separate board, but it will be pretty much the same. What that landback does is give RDA authority to address blight and redevelopment on a larger scale.
“The first step is to get involved in the tax sale process and get involved with tax claims. This would allow the RDA to work with the tax claim bureau to get involved earlier and get ahead of other bidders. We don’t want property to get bought by people who don’t want to do anything with it or have the best intentions. It makes it easier to own and transfer property.
“When a property transferred in a municipality that has a co-op with RDA, half of the taxes for five years go back to RDA. They take a house, rehab it, and then re-sell it. That’s a really improant piece to this. It’s another funding mechanism.”
And Eggleston added it would create a much easier process.
“It strips away a lot of the barriers in trying to get a hold of these properties and get proactive with addressing them,” Eggleston said.
There is a target date of late July.
“Right now, we’re finalizing an ordinance that the county is going to pass on July 27,” Eggleston said. “After that, assume all of the municipalities will pass intergovernmental cooperative agreements to join the landbank.”
