Greater Syracuse Land Bank seeks $750,000 operating support, outlines demolition and housing plans

A representative of the Greater Syracuse Land Bank told city councilors at a budget hearing that the land bank is seeking $750,000 in operating support — the same level as last year — and outlined plans for demolitions, stabilization and homeownership programs.

The presenter said the land bank generates roughly half of its operating revenue from property sales and rents and relies on city and county funding to cover the remainder. “We’re in the budget for $750,000, which is the same as last year,” the representative said, adding that state funding is used primarily for capital projects such as stabilization and demolitions.

The land bank gave several financial figures to the council. The presenter said the organization has sold about 1,400 properties and that those sales generate roughly $2,600,000 a year in on-time property tax payments. The presenter also said delinquent-collection performance has improved since the land bank’s creation, citing a $30,000,000 total increase in collections and noting the city had previously granted the land bank $12,000,000 in support.

Council members pressed the land bank on maintenance and code-enforcement coordination after properties transfer to land-bank ownership. The representative said codes staff generally call land-bank maintenance crews so the land bank can respond; on rare occasions the city performs emergency board-ups or cleanup and bills the land bank, which then pays those invoices.

On demolitions and geographic priorities, the land bank said it has been focusing work from the Near West Side southward and that where funding permits it prioritizes imminent collapse and other health-and-safety hazards. If state contracting through the Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) RFA is completed in June, the presenter estimated the land bank could complete at least 50 demolitions this year (down from 70 last year, when contracts were continuous).

The land bank described inventory pressures: it reported selling 58 properties last year, of which 18 were structures, and maintaining a supply of about 900 properties in inventory — most of them vacant lots. The presenter said there are nearly 2,000 seizable properties remaining in the backlog from prior years and urged faster tax-foreclosure processing to increase available listings for buyers.

Councilors and the presenter also reviewed past programs. The presenter contrasted current practices with the city’s former “dollar homes” approach, saying the land bank no longer sells sight-unseen and now requires buyers to show proof of funds or construction-loan preapproval so purchasers are less likely to return properties to the city.

On homeownership programs, the land bank said its Move in New York application was approved last week and that the waiting list opens tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.; applicants must provide two years of tax returns and two months of pay stubs or equivalent benefit statements. The presenter described modular/manufactured units planned for some sites and said most factory work is being done in Sangerfield, New York; on-site work such as foundations, sewer and water hookups, siding and carpentry will create local subcontracting opportunities. Jubilee-built units were described as likely to start later (possibly 2027) while some manufactured construction could start this summer pending contracts.

The presenter clarified budget lines: the requested $750,000 is direct operating support to the land bank, and the city budget separately includes a $300,000 line item for administration of surplus-proceeds claims (the city contracts with the land bank to handle surplus-claim procedures created after a Supreme Court decision limiting government takings of foreclosure surpluses). The land bank said it had hired a retired judge to manage surplus proceedings and that the surplus fund pays any successful claimants directly.

The hearing ended after additional questions about revenue accounting; the presenter explained that revenues from land-bank rents and sales remain with the land bank and do not flow into the city’s general fund, though the land bank said its work improves the city’s delinquent-tax collection rates. Presiding council members then moved to adjourn the hearing.

What’s next: councilors received the presentation and had no recorded formal roll-call vote on the land bank’s request during the hearing; staff said they will circulate supporting financial documentation and the land bank will pursue state stabilization and demolition contracting as opportunities arise.