Posted: 12:11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, 2016

Butler County land bank to get extra $2M to demolish eyesores

By Denise G. Callahan

Staff Writer

A new $2 million infusion of federal funding means more eyesores will be erased throughout Butler County.

The Butler County land bank has already spent almost $7 million in federal, state and local funding to demolish about 600 unsightly structures in Middletown and Hamilton — the county’s two biggest cities.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said today that more federal Hardest Hit Funds — $2 billion worth for the entire country — will come home to Ohio.

As part of the year-end omnibus spending bill, Congress directed the U.S. Treasury Department to transfer $2 billion from the Making Home Affordable program to the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF), which has been used by land banks like the one in Butler County, to bust blight.

“This is a major win for Ohio communities and homeowners that are still recovering from the housing crisis,” Brown, a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs said earlier this year. “It’s critical that we continue to preserve and strengthen a fund that has provided over half a billion dollars to address the housing crisis in Ohio and to redevelop blighted neighborhoods by demolishing vacant properties.”

With $2.7 million it received in Moving Ohio Forward grants from the state, Butler County formed a land bank four years ago to deal with blighted buildings. The cities of Hamilton and Middletown each gave $1.1 million to the land bank fund as well. The two cities are currently working through $2 million in HHF money, removing as many as 120 eyesores.

Butler County commissioners agreed to siphon one percent of delinquent tax and assessment collection funds (DTAC) to bolster the land bank and open up services for the entire county. DTAC funds are late payment penalties on real estate taxes.

Including Hamilton and Middletown, there are now 10 member communities in the land bank. Fairfield, Hanover, Liberty, Oxford and Madison, Ross and Wayne townships and the city of Trenton have all joined the land bank.