Vacant lots cost 8 cities $63M

The total includes lost tax revenue and lost services for the Ohio cities.

COLUMBUS (AP) — More than 25,000 vacant and abandoned properties cost eight Ohio cities at least $63 million, as ill-equipped local governments have been unable to wrestle with job loss and the foreclosure crisis, a report found.

A report released today by Columbus-based Community Research Partners showed that Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Ironton, Lima, Springfield, Toledo and Zanesville have lost millions in services and tax revenues as vacant residences and abandoned lots have mounted.

The study was commissioned by ReBuild Ohio, a coalition of local government, nonprofit and civic organizations.

Researchers said that Dayton and Columbus were able to provide complete data, but many of the smaller cities, as well as Cleveland, weren’t able to provide a comprehensive picture. So the total costs of $63 million are likely to be much higher.

The study found that 6.7 percent of residential buildings in Dayton were vacant, and the city had 5,435 vacant buildings and lots. The city had $12.3 million in costs from lost tax revenue and services for those properties.

Cleveland saw costs of roughly $35.5 million from its vacant and abandoned properties, while Columbus saw $8.4 million in costs. Columbus was not as heavily impacted as some other cities because Franklin County has been able to make up for its loss of manufacturing jobs with an increase in jobs in other sectors, the report said.

Job loss, population loss, property tax delinquency and the foreclosure problem all contributed to rising problems with vacant and abandoned properties, the report found. The report used 2006 data, so present conditions are likely to be worse since much of the foreclosure crisis expanded in 2007.

Abandoned properties are just a subset of homes in foreclosure. Properties may be abandoned if a seller expected to be able to sell the property had a high price but then saw the market tank. Mortgage fraud also plays a role. Many cities simply don’t have the resources to keep a complete inventory of all vacant and abandoned properties, much less to pay to fix them up and then sell them, said Roberta Garber, executive director for Community Research Partners.

“They (cities) are struggling in the trenches everyday and they really want this story to be told,” Garber said.

Reacting to the results of the report, ReBuild Ohio called on Ohio lawmakers to enact a number of policies in the next 18 months to stem the tide.

By January 2009, ReBuild Ohio wants the state to create incentives for local governments to develop a property data collection system, and pass a bill that would enable cities to initiate foreclosure action on abandoned property.

And by Sept. 2009, the organization wants the state to target long-term planning by helping cities support mixed-income and mixed-use development.