SHENANDOAH — Two buildings are coming down and one was demolished after the borough acquired them through the county repository.
The borough acquired 419 W. New York St. and 204 and 206 W. Poplar St. for $25 each last week.
“It’s part of an overall project we have,” borough Manager Joseph L. Palubinsky said Wednesday.
That project is taking down blighted properties in the borough with annual Community Development Block Grant funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
“It’s a function of how much money we have available,” Palubinsky said. “It’s a process.”
The buildings being demolished were damaged in a fire. Palubinsky said the owners did not have insurance, so the dilapidated buildings just sat there.
“It would be a good time to require all property owners to have insurance,” he said. “That’s part of the problem we are dealing with.”
Properties are sent to upset sale when at least one year’s taxes are delinquent for about two years. Upset sales include all liens attached to the property.
If unsold, they then go to the judicial sale, where the liens are separated to the best of the county’s ability.
Any property still not sold after judicial sale will go to the county repository, where they can be bought by bid at any time.
A list of repository properties is available on the county website at www.co.schuylkill.pa.us.
“It’s a great vehicle for eliminating blight,” Angela Toomey, county tax claims director, said Thursday. “We would definitely like to see more of it, especially if the properties are in poor condition.”
Toomey said that once a property is in the repository, a municipality can provide proof that the building is depilated and the tax bureau will sell it for the minimum amount.
“The more properties we can get back on the tax rolls the better and the more issues that are resolved, like public safety and blight, the better,” he said.
According to the county tax claims bureau website, the minimum acceptable bid is generally the cost for the judicial sale, which is clear of as many liens and encumbrances as possible. A property can also accumulate additional costs and fees.
“The Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau is working with us on this, so I commend them for that,” Palubinsky said.
Mahanoy City also bought three properties last week for $20 each: 29, 31, and 33 N. Main Street. Those properties were also damaged in a fire and have already been knocked down.
“That is the process we go through to raze a property,” William F. Killian III, Mahanoy City code enforcement officer, said Thursday. “It is a useful tool for the borough.”
The borough also uses state CDBG money for its demolition program. Killian said the borough also assists people looking to increase their property value by demolishing blighted structures.
“We work with people in the community if they want a property to tear down,” he said. We help them through the steps.”
Anyone bidding on a blighted property can also qualify for $1,500 to be used for a Dumpster, Killian said.
“It all depends on the availability of funds,” Killian said. “We increased taxes by 2 mills to assist with CDBG money to help tear down dilapidated buildings.”
Killian said borough officials are still discussing what to do with recently acquired properties.