ABANDONED HOUSES Both candidates want to knock down badly-deteriorated buildings, an endeavor that could cost millions. McCarthy wants to use two new development programs: land banks, which have been approved by the state, and tax increment fi nancing, which city officials haven’t yet persuaded the state to allow. In a land bank, which would need to be designated by the state, the city could take a group of houses, sell the valuable ones, and use the money to demolish the rest. Tax increment financing would allow the city to develop a group of properties by using, in advance, the money that will be collected in additional taxes when the project is done. McCarthy has also set aside $100,000 in the 2012 budget for demolition, but that money is often used for emergency demolitions, particularly for houses left near collapse after a fi re. McCarthy wants to apply to the neighborhoods the methodical approach used downtown to acquire, repair and demolish buildings. “Each property has a complicated history. We’ve got to go through and look at each one,” he said, adding that the city must also be “more creative” in getting insurance funds or cash from owners who abandon their property. He’s willing to go after the owner’s other assets, including tax refunds and bank accounts. Hull wants to use Metroplex Development Authority to demolish derelict houses. He would try to persuade Metroplex to spend $1 million to $2 million to demolish 50 to 100 buildings. It may be hard to persuade Metroplex. Its board has a policy of demolishing buildings only when a new project is ready for the site so that demolition doesn’t just reduce the city’s tax base. But Hull said it’s clear Metroplex is legally allowed to do it. “Obviously, the mayor of Schenectady does not get to tell Metroplex what to do. I will try to get Metroplex to put money into taking down structures that are beyond repair. Clearly in the biz corridors there should be no argument on that regard,” he said, arguing that blighted buildings hurt the nearby businesses. Hull also doesn’t plan to wait for the state to designate a local land bank. “There is, in essence, already a land bank,” he said. “It’s called SURA.” The Schenectady Urban Renewal Agency, made up of City Council members, was dormant until this year. Hull said the city should have been using SURA extensively to acquire property, group it together and develop it just as the Democrats want to do with a land bank. “You do what the law provides. You take those properties and you find a way to take them and develop them,” Hull said.
McCarthy idiotic taxing policies caused the housing/resale price implosion in the City. McCarthy has voted to increase taxes AND fees 150%. 16 years of this tax and borrower have destroyed a once great industrial City. The City that once lit and hauled the world has been destroyed by DEM nit wits. There is nothing left to build on. Had enough-YET?
The lowlifes need to be dealt with at the state level, individual communities are staggering under the economic downturn as it is. Why should working people have to abandon their cities to get away from these problems?
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McCarthy idiotic taxing policies caused the housing/resale price implosion in the City. McCarthy has voted to increase taxes AND fees 150%. 16 years of this tax and borrower have destroyed a once great industrial City. The City that once lit and hauled the world has been destroyed by DEM nit wits. There is nothing left to build on. Had enough-YET?
