May 7, 2008

COUNTY TASK FORCE CHAIRED BY LEGISLATOR REYNOLDS TAKES IMMEDIATE ACTION ON DISTRESSED PROPERTIES

Following the first meeting of a legislative task force chaired by Erie County Legislator Robert Reynolds (D-Hamburg, Evans) on May 7, task force members are taking decisive action to stem the blight of distressed properties throughout Erie County.

"My goal in calling for the creation of the Distressed Properties Task Force under the Finance and Management Committee of the Legislature was to bring together everyone who was working to combat this problem at the federal, state, county and municipal levels," Legislator Reynolds said. "This will facilitate a brainstorming session and come up with immediate and long-term action steps to reduce the negative impact of distressed properties on our economic development efforts."

Legislator Reynolds was joined by the Distressed Properties Task Force Co-chair, Village of Angola Mayor Hub Frawley; legislative colleagues; representatives of Governor David Paterson, Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Brian Higgins, Cheektowaga Supervisor Mary Holtz,; other public and private sector stakeholders; as well as community organizations who pledged to work together to develop and employ more effective prevention and intervention strategies to move distressed properties from the category of community liability to community asset.

"I am pleased to announce that following the information sharing and commitment of task force members to roll up their sleeves and get to the heart of the problem, the working group's first recommendation was to reduce the Erie County foreclosure process, due to non-payment of taxes, from three years to one, consistent with the length of the foreclosure process in the City of Buffalo, which happens to represent about 40 percent of the county's tax liens," Legislator Reynolds said.

Legislator Reynolds has directed the Erie County Attorney's Office, the Comptroller's Office and the Department of Finance and Real Property Taxes to collaborate on the research and development of a local law that will reduce the county foreclosure process from three years to one, thereby getting these properties rehabilitated, resold and back on the tax rolls on a fast track.

"This is a community and economic development issue whose time has come. Distressed properties bring down property values wherever they exist and they hinder our efforts to encourage businesses to invest in our community," Legislator Reynolds concluded. "We're done talking about this problem, hoping it will resolve itself, and we're taking action starting today."

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