SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Cracking down on blighted properties: that’s what’s behind a new fund in Lackawanna County.
It will be funded by adding a new fee on certain property sales to help the initiative.
It was a unanimous vote by the commissioners Wednesday morning to start a new fund for blighted properties across the county.
A new initiative in Lackawanna County aims to transform neighborhoods plagued by decay just by adding a $250 fee to tax delinquent and foreclosure sales, the county creates a demolition and rehabilitation fund.
“So, what we did today really was to try to get another funding stream to help these boroughs and townships and help these neighborhoods, so we could rehabilitate the property and if the property is not able to be rehabilitated, then we would could help them with money to demolish it and pave the way for further developers,” said Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan.
This fee-based fund is at no cost to the county and provides access to other boroughs within Lackawanna County which now joins only two other counties in Pennsylvania to implement a program like this.
“There’s only two other counties in Pennsylvania that do it, so we’ll be the third, and I know that they’re getting their programs up and running now so we’re really kinda on the cutting edge of this whole thing,” Gaughan explained.
“As was stated, the intention of the program is for not only the county to utilize those funds but also hopefully provide those funds to other municipalities in need,” Lackawanna County Planning and Economic Development Director Kristin Magnotta stated.
This is good news for residents in the area who are ready to see something done with these places, especially for Scranton resident Jerry Birtell, who lives directly across the street from a blighted property.
“Nothing has been done to it, it’s falling apart, pieces are blowing off with the wind, so it is an eyesore and sad for the area. It’ll be great if they do rehabilitate it or tear it down,” Birtell said.
The main goal of this initiative is to enhance neighborhood appeal and boost property values.
