Members of Syracuse’s Common Council expressed doubt about the future sustainability of the Greater Syracuse Land Bank at a budget hearing Wednesday afternoon.

The land bank is a local public authority that demolishes and repurposes properties throughout the city, many of which have been safety hazards and eyesores. At $25,000 per demolition, these redevelopment projects can be expensive.

Without additional subsidies from the city, the land bank will go broke by the first quarter of 2021, said Katelyn Wright, executive director of the nonprofit organization.

“Being able to support this organization and keep it running has a real financial benefit to the city, not to mention quality of life benefits for the people who live on a street next to a vacant building,” Wright said.

Mayor Ben Walsh has allocated $750,000 from his 2018-19 budget proposal for the land bank, which was forced to use funds from its “rainy day fund” last summer when the council cut its entire $1.5 million budget. That $750,000 would be split between maintenance costs, such as for lawn mowing, snow plowing and demolitions.

Wright said the land bank’s recurring operating deficit, $600,000 last year and this year, is one of its biggest challenges. She added that since 2012 the land bank has sold 560 properties that generate about $1 million in local property taxes.

Councilor at large Khalid Bey took issue with the land bank’s sale or usage of properties that are not taxable.   

“For a moment I was a little afraid, because there was a serious monsoon of efforts to create community gardens and green spaces, none of which generate any revenue,” said Bey, referring to dozens of community gardens the land bank has established throughout the city.

Councilor at-large Timothy Rudd and council President Helen Hudson voiced concerns about what they said was the land bank’s inability to remain self-sufficient.  

“The land bank, as I’m hearing, you’re never going to be sustainable,” said Hudson during the meeting.

Wright said the land bank will never be “self-sufficient” in the sense that it can generate enough revenue on its own, but the organization is trying to move away from its reliance on city funds. She added that the land bank normally receives grants from the New York Attorney General’s office, but they are currently in between years when grants are issued.  

The New York Land Bank Association, which is made up of 23 land banks across the state, has plans to lobby the state Legislature to pass increases on certain taxes relating to buying and selling properties. Only residents of counties with land banks would experience the tax increases, Wright said.

If such legislation was enacted, the state would be the main provider of funding for Syracuse’s land bank, and the city would no longer need to allocate funds every year. But 2018 is an election year, so the New York Land Bank Association won’t ask New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo to pass tax hikes, Wright said.

Without that “sustainable source of funds,” Syracuse’s land bank is still reliant on the city to provide public subsidies, Wright said.

Published on April 11, 2018 at 8:05 pm

Contact Casey: casey@dailyorange.com | @caseydarnell_