Xenia council restores fire‑code provision letting city secure insurance proceeds for unsafe fire‑damaged buildings

Xenia City Council on Nov. 13 unanimously passed Ordinance 2025‑28 to reinstate a local fire‑code provision that lets the city collect certain insurance proceeds when a fire causes qualifying damage to a structure.

Law Director Danette Fisher told council the Ohio Revised Code establishes a process for the city to receive a portion of insurance proceeds when fire damage exceeds $5,000 and 60% of the applicable insurance coverage; those proceeds are held as security so taxpayer dollars are not used to demolish or secure unsafe buildings. “If the owner takes care of it, then the finance department signs those proceeds back over to the owner,” Fisher said during the hearing.

Fisher said the city had adopted similar language in 1988 but the provision was inadvertently removed from the property‑maintenance code during a 2014 update. Staff have already created a fund in the administrative code to account for proceeds, she told council, and noted a recent situation in which a check was mistakenly issued to the county rather than the city under this statutory framework.

Council opened a public hearing, received no public opposition, and Councilman Crawford moved for passage; Councilman Reynolds seconded. Roll call recorded unanimous ayes and the ordinance was adopted.

The ordinance will place on the city’s fire code the statutory procedure by which the city may secure insurance proceeds to pay for demolition, boarding or other necessary emergency work when private owners fail to do so. City staff said the authority provides a means to address hazardous properties without tapping general‑fund reserves.

Next steps: city finance staff will execute the administrative procedures to accept and hold insurance proceeds when the statutory triggers are met.