Washington County's finance committee agreed to forward a resolution to the full board that would remove a collapsed, tax‑delinquent property in the village of Whitehall from the tax roll to help the village pursue a cleanup grant and redevelopment options.

County officials described a structurally collapsing property at 1 North William Street that the village wants to clean up and potentially redevelop but cannot obtain grant funding without clear ownership or removal from the tax roll. The village has an option agreement with the property owner and preliminary indication from the New York State Office of Community Renewal (OCR) that the site qualifies for a Community Development Block Grant for property cleanup.

County Attorney recommended the county use its standard practice—described in the meeting as an "11 38" resolution—to remove the property from the tax roll (the term used repeatedly in committee discussion) and suggested including a chargeback arrangement to protect the county and taxing jurisdictions. “If the county was to 11 38 the property, what that does in fact is it will take a property off the rolls. The current taxes are are liquidated. Right? They're they're written off, charged back to the respective taxing jurisdictions,” the County Attorney said. He proposed language like the one used in a previous Fort Edward/Market 32 agreement so that if the village later sells the property and there is surplus above cleanup costs, the county would be reimbursed for its chargeback.

Village representatives (including Matt Porter) described emergency demolition that previously removed hazardous structure and said the village has entered an option agreement with the owner and has incurred demolition costs. The village seeks county cooperation so it can finalize an OCR cleanup grant application; OCR requires clarity on ownership/tax status for eligibility. Committee members discussed precedent from a Fort Edward project where the county removed a property from the roll and the town repaid chargebacks from sale proceeds.

Action and next steps: The committee voted to send a resolution to the full board to remove the property from the tax roll (per the "11 38" approach discussed) and to add language allowing the county to be made whole from any future surplus proceeds above cleanup costs. The committee chair said county counsel will draft the resolution with Fort Edward/Market 32 language and include it in the Friday packet for full board consideration.