However, Butler County’s application for additional state funds has been denied because its land bank lacks steady income, according to Treasurer Nancy Nix, who heads the land bank board.
“Our land bank is not fully operational with money in the bank and properties in the pipeline,” she said.
At Nix’s request, Butler County commissioners agreed to siphon 1 percent of delinquent tax and assessment collection funds (DTAC) to bolster the land bank.
DTAC funds are late payment penalties on real estate taxes. Large counties generally take 5 percent of DTAC funds for their land banks, according to Nix. The 1 percent will be garner about $155,000, she said.
DTAC funds are distributed to all the taxing bodies in the county. Under Thursday’s approval, the Lakota School District will take the biggest hit, losing about $28,000, based on 2012 tax settlements.
Kathy Dudley, from Hamilton, said the city has demolished 134 structures in the city, getting rid of “eyesores” and “repurposing” the lots. The Moving Ohio Forward money, she said, was a godsend.
“We’ve leveraged 50 cents on the dollar,” she said. “That’s an opportunity that’s once in a lifetime to be able to make this kind of change.”
The city of Middletown would like to see the county utilize more of the tools that are available to land banks — such as help with refinancing mortgages and working with contractors to fix up blighted buildings — said new City Manager Doug Adkins. About 308 blighted buildings have been torn down in Middletown through the land bank, he said.
But taxpayer money should not be part of the banking or contracting business, Commissioner Don Dixon said.
“I don’t want to lose sight of what the principle purpose is,” he said. “I think our biggest benefit for our taxpayers is to get the property down, get it cleaned up, abate the crime.”
While Hamilton and Middletown have been the principle beneficiaries of the funding because they were part of the financial backing to receive the state funds, Commissioner Cindy Carpenter said she wants the land bank program expanded.
Nix said the land bank plans to reach out to all of the jurisdictions in the county to see if they need help with blighted properties.
There are approximately 13,061 vacant properties — or 8.8 percent of the structures in the county, according to Dudley.
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