[Buy a house for a buck. That’s what Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll is proposing to entice people to fix up abandoned buildings. Shelly Schwartz of Democracywise tells us what the mayor and others say about how this deal aims to bring life back to vacant homes in Syracuse.]
Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll is proposing a program that will let people buy abandoned residential properties for only $1. The catch: owners have to renovate the neglected homes to help revive rundown neighborhoods. The mayor’s plan has bipartisan support from the Common Council. Republican Common Councilor Ryan McMahon says the dollar program is an enticing incentive.
[“We do need to find creative ways to incite people to invest in our neighborhoods and that’s how we’ll turn around some struggling neighborhoods and some transitional neighborhoods back to thriving neighborhoods,” Ryan McMahon, Republican, of the Common Council 3rd District. ]
The city already has a program that sells rundown houses for $1 but only to non-profit housing agencies like Home HeadQuarters and Model Neighborhoods. So far, Home HeadQuarters has bought 24 houses to rehab and sell to new homeowners. Common Councilor Ryan McMahon says extending the dollar program to anyone with a good financial record will help revive Syracuse neighborhoods at a faster rate.
[“For those streets where you have that one bad house on the street where it’s a vacant house, it means a lot. And the curb appeal will be tremendous for some streets going forward if this program really takes off,” Common Councilor Ryan McMahon, 3rd District.]
In his State of the City Address, Mayor Driscoll targeted the program to those who renovate vacant homes or build new homes on vacant lots in the city. Under his proposal, those people would pay no taxes — not property taxes nor school taxes — on the property for seven years.[“Nobody is tax free,” David Clifford, city department of assessment.]
Clifford says the city will help make renovating an abandoned home more affordable by taxing the cheaper, original property value instead of the more expensive assessment after home repairs have been made. Here’s how that would work:
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Someone buys an abandoned home worth $20,000…
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Then makes improvements that increase the property assessment to $50,000.
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But the owner is only taxed for the original $20,000 value.
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And the homeowner gets that tax break for the first three years of the mayor’s seven-year plan.
After the three-year mark, Clifford of the tax assessment office says, taxes on the full assessment are phased in. By Year Eight, the owner will be taxed on the full value of the renovated property. Clifford says this tax break aims to make renovations less of a financial burden for the owner.
[“You just spent a whole bunch of money on your renovating, so it gives you time to kind of be able to better afford it,” First Deputy Commissioner David Clifford, city department of assessment.]
Clifford and Common Councilor Ryan McMahon agree that tax-break programs will benefit the city as a whole. As abandoned homes are revived, property values will rise. McMahon explains:
[“We’re trying to increase investment in properties that have been abandoned and lots that there’s nothing on them now, and that will only help enhance the other properties owners have owned on those streets,” Common Councilor Ryan McMahon, 3rd District]
For example, the congregation of People’s AME Zion Church has already started buying up abandoned buildings in Syracuse’s South Side neighborhood. Pastor Daren Jaime says his church is interested in the mayor’s proposal.
[“We’re excited about it. It’s good timing for us. I think that the mayor understands that there has to be certain things that have to be done to the South Side. There has to be community improvement,” Pastor Daren Jaime of People’s AME Zion Church.]
In our next segment, we’ll talk more with Pastor Jaime and other community groups to find out what they’re doing to rid the area of abandoned homes and make their neighborhoods a more inviting place to live.
Reporting for Democracywise, I’m Shelly Schwartz
(Shelly Schwartz is a senior broadcast journalism major.)
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