There’s a lot to like about a plan to start a land bank in Allen County, but commissioners were taken by surprise by a proposal from Thrive Allen County and said they have too many questions.
There may not be enough time to find the answers.
Thrive’s economic development director Jonathan Goering asked commissioners to help them apply for a $50,000 state housing grant that would purchase about a dozen properties throughout the county. The grant requires participation from a city or county.
The hope is to create a sort of “land bank,” a collection of properties the county and Thrive could promote for housing development. Thrive would purchase properties within local communities, possibly including Iola, Humboldt, Moran and LaHarpe, then ask developers to consider building houses there.
At last week’s Humboldt Council meeting, Beth Works, a member of A Bolder Humboldt, received approval for a similar request. Their plan is to ask for $250,000 to go toward building up to six houses. The money would be used as “gap funding,” to make up the difference between what it costs to build a house and what it will fetch on the market.
Commissioners had a lot of questions, and expressed some frustration with Goering’s timing.
“I feel like this was thrown in at the 11th hour,” Commissioner David Lee said. “I’m not against it, I just think there are some questions that need to be answered.”
For example:
How many properties and where would they be located?
What happens to property taxes? The county would no longer collect taxes on those properties, and would lose that revenue.
Are there any structures that would need to be demolished, or other aspects that could be a liability?
The county would be responsible for maintaining the properties, such as mowing. How long would that responsibility last? What happens when the grant money runs out? Commissioners were especially concerned about maintenance.
Goering couldn’t answer many of their questions in full.
He said he had about a half dozen properties in mind, but hadn’t finalized a list. Some of the money from the grant could be allocated toward maintenance, but that would only last as long as the grant.
And as for property taxes, there might be a minimal loss but it would eventually be offset by developing the property, he said.
