HARRISBURG, Pa. (EYT) – A pair of bills were signed this week by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf that are aimed at eradicating blight throughout Pennsylvania’s communities.
House Bill 653 and Senate Bill 667 will provide new tools to municipalities to help increase redevelopment opportunities statewide.
“My administration is committed to addressing blight and we have invested in community redevelopment that enhances that goal,” Wolf said. “These bills are important to help local communities more swiftly address blight and I commend the bipartisan Blight Task Force for its continued dedication to this important cause.”
House Bill 653 provides for an accelerated foreclosure process for vacant and abandoned property while maintaining appropriate protections for property owners, according to a release from the governor’s office.
Senate Bill 677 will grant redevelopment authorities the same powers currently allocated to land banks to increase opportunities to combat neighborhood blight. The legislation will allow established redevelopment authorities to get into the fight against blight.
A land bank is an independent public entity created by a municipality to expedite the process of acquiring and rehabilitating blighted, dilapidated, and abandoned properties.
“Blighted, abandoned properties pose a danger to the public, increase crime rates and reduce property values,” Senator Pat Stefano, the author of the bill, said. “This legislation will give communities a valuable tool to effectively fight blight, which is becoming a growing problem in many areas of the state.”
The legislation also enables redevelopment authorities to discharge tax liens on blighted properties and to share up to 50 percent of the real estate property taxes for five years after conveyance of authority-owned property. It also eliminates the need to form an entirely new entity in these municipalities.
“Under my proposal, land banks will continue to remain a successful and useful tool for municipalities in combating blight,” Stefano said. “This bill will offer another resource for municipalities with active redevelopment authorities to use in eliminating blight, rehabilitating properties and improving neighborhoods and communities while saving them money and avoiding costly and timely duplication of services.”
Regionally, Venango County has an active Land Bank, and in past years Oil City has utilized it to help clean up blighted properties in the city.
“The land bank has been very helpful,” Oil City councilman Ron Gustafson said. “Expanding that to an RDA is good from my perspective. Be it a land bank or an RDA, the ability to intercept problem properties from the tax sale is an invaluable tool and will help make progress to curb blight.”
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