Oswego Begins Phase II Of Zombie Home Repair Program

by Shea O'Malley | June 25, 2020 10:09 am

OSWEGO – Another round of City of Oswego properties will get a new face-lift starting next month as the city prepares for Phase II of the Zombie Home Repair Fund Program.

The Zombie Fund was created for Code Enforcement to use as a last resort in dealing with dilapidated structures and owner neglect throughout the city; giving neighborhoods an upper hand with blighted homes that devaluate and distress their property values.

Three notices/code violations are sent to property owners over an extended period of time, allowing for the issues to be resolved. If an owner ignores the repeated citations, the city will send one final letter issuing a start date for a city-hired contractor to begin repairs.

If owners remain non-compliant, the cost of the repair work is added onto the homeowner’s tax bill, coupled with interest.

When owners pay their taxes, the work fees and interest are rolled back into the Zombie Repair Fund, allowing the city to work on other targeted projects. Only specific properties and situations fall into the eligibility criteria for the plan.

“A property must be either be bank owned or stuck in the foreclosure process, which often is the origin of a lot of [the] blight in our neighborhoods,” Mayor Billy Barlow said. “We also do apply the project to properties that have been vacant for over one year.”

The rehabilitation work for Phase I began in the fall of 2019, ending last month. Six homes have received repair work in Phase I, with another eight slated for work in Phase II, beginning in mid-July.

“Phase I actually started back in 2018 when we went to every property in the City of Oswego, and if they appeared to be vacant, [we] researched their title, property history, tax status and other information to determine if they met our criteria to fall into the zombie program,” Barlow said. “Once we produced the inventory and documented all the information, we started the actual rehabs based on [the] condition of the property and the condition of the surrounding neighborhood.”

The city initially set aside an allotment of $40,000 to jump-start the program, the mayor wanting to continue forward in the enhancement process of Oswego homes and neighborhoods.

“This program can be a great tool, the ultimate tool, for code enforcement to use while addressing negligent and ignorant property owners and landlords,” Barlow said. “I look forward to securing more funding to allow for more projects for us to do in the future [and] to improve our neighborhoods.

For more information on the Zombie Home Repair Fund Program, please contact Mayor Barlow’s Office[1] or Oswego Code Enforcement[2].

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/oswego/oswego-begins-phase-ii-of-zombie-home-repair-program/

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