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Hubbard tax-delinquent properties on rise
hubbard
Fred Hanley said the number of tax-delinquent properties in the township is the most he’s seen in his 22 years as a township trustee.
“People are hurting,” Hanley said.
As of July 11, data collected by the township showed 1,143 parcels of land delinquent on taxes, adding up to $1.3 million owed to the township.
Eighty percent of the money owed will go to the Hubbard school district.
It is an issue that has accelerated since the recession began in 2008 and one that the newly formed Trumbull County Land Bank, the township hopes, will alleviate by placing properties back on the tax roll.
“We are all in hard times,” said Trumbull County Treasurer Sam Lamancusa.
He said the delinquency problem is countywide, up from 9 percent before 2008 to 12 percent this year. The land bank “was formed so that we work on this as a county. So that it’s not one area improving but the entire county improving.”
Both Hanley and Lamancusa said “predatory lending” played a role, saying some property owners borrowed too much.
But Hanley said a 2005 county pact with the Environmental Protection Agency to have the county fitted with sewer lines or septic tanks by 2020 has added more financial strain to Hubbard Township property owners.
He said three sections of the township, which make up 83 percent of it, potentially could have a sewer system built beneath them. The construction costs would fall to property owners at up to $6,000 per household, Hanley said. He said the rest of the township that is too spread out for a sewer system will be forced to have septic systems installed at the cost of up to $20,000 per household.
In March, the township’s zoning administrator, John Pieton, began compiling a list of the properties that owed taxes to the county treasurer. He has 81 properties so far worth $739,728 in back taxes.
“The trustees are hurting for money, state’s cutting back on everything,” he said. “We’re just grabbing for anything we can.”
Commercial and residential properties are listed as delinquent, ranging in amounts owed from Doughton Golf Course that owed $96,153 as of March 15, to a Bell Wick Road residential address that owed $2,648.
John Doughton, the 85-year-old course’s current manager, said they pay close to $23,000 a year in property taxes.
“Business has been in decline since the mid-’90s,” he said.
The course started a contract with the county to begin payment on the taxes owed, Lamancusa said. Lamancusa said that those that are delinquent but want to keep their properties can pay 10 percent of delinquent taxes up front, then 10 percent on top of their current taxes for the next five years.
“If everyone who is delinquent came in and talked to us, I’d be happy,” Lamancusa said.
But many walk away.
And for those properties, the land bank would hold the property for sale, absolve the delinquent taxes, appraise it and sell it after the buyer signs an affidavit promising to improve the property if needed.
Lamancusa said in that way, the land bank system betters the community more than placing the house on a sheriff sale where there is no guarantee the buyer would take care of the property.
“In this program, we mandate what you do within a time limit,” he said.
For example, the county could order the new owner to replace windows or the roof.
There are four properties available on the county’s land bank since its inception less than a year ago, Lamancusa said. He hopes by the end of August to have 55 properties on the land bank ready for purchase.