foreclosures

When a property in a town or village is seized in a tax lien foreclosure, by law and by courtesy, the county ensures towns, villages and school districts receive the back taxes owed those jurisdictions. 

The county also reimburses some related expenses the local jurisdiction might incur, including, up 'til now, demolition costs on condemned buildings.

But that can get expensive, so County Treasurer Scott German proposed to the Genesee County Legislature on Wednesday that the county stop guaranteeing towns and villages that demolition costs will be covered.

German is asking the legislature to pass a resolution, followed by a letter from County Attorney Charles Zambito to mayors and supervisors, declaring that the county will no longer cover the cost of demolition on tax lien foreclosed buildings.

Some costs could be covered, German said, if the property fetches more at auction than is owed in delinquent taxes, but for parcels without buildings, that rarely happens.

German told the Ways and Means Committee that, for example, on a parcel that is less than an acre, it might bring $3,000 at auction, but the demolition cost on a building might be $20,000.

The way things have been, the county ends up paying the entire bill, even though it had no part in contracting for the demolition.

"Who can blame them for going in and taking care of demolition, but it shouldn’t be a county cost," Legislator Mary Pat Hancock said.

Under state law, the county must reimburse school districts and towns for taxes owed when it forecloses on a property, and the county has provided those reimbursements to villages, even though not mandated by law.

The city takes care of its own tax lien foreclosures.

The City of Batavia has foreclosed on eight properties for failure to pay taxes.

In a report to city council, City Manager Jason Molino is recommending that six of the residential units be auctioned off, one be turned over to Habitat for Humanity and a commercial property be offered through a request-for-proposal.

The eight properties are:

• 507 Ellicott St., assessed value of $52,000 and back taxes of $19,225
• 20 Franklin St., assessed value of $65,000 and back taxes of $17,131
• 3 Manhatten Ave., assessed value of $71,000 and back taxes of $25,903
• 48 Riverview Parkway, assessed value of $1,500 and back taxes of $572
• 21 South Lyon St., assessed value of $53,400 and back taxes of $26,359
• 308 Washington Ave., assessed value of $12,400 and back taxes of $5,448
• 11-13 Raymond Ave., assessed value of $52,000 and back taxes of $20,803
• 13-15 Jackson St., assessed value of $15,000 and back taxes of $3,411

The Riverview Parkway and Washington Avenue properties are vacant land and are zoned residential.

The property recommended for Habitat is 11-13 Raymond Ave. The property has been vacant for more than a year and has water and mold damage. Habitat identified the property as suitable for revitalization and turning over to a low-income family. The local chapter would be asked to pay the $20,803 in back taxes for the property.

As for the commercial property on Jackson Street, it is a warehouse in the alley. Molino is recommending that the city put out a request-for-proposal asking potential buyers provide a plan for the property before it is sold.

Rather than auction away foreclosed homes, maybe the city should offer them first, at a minimal cost, to city employees, Councilman Tim Buckley suggested at Monday's Batavia City Council meeting.

His idea met with some resistance, particularly Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian, who said any such program should be open to the entire community.

But the gist of Buckley's proposal got some support -- rather than auction off homes that the city has seized for unpaid taxes, the city should create a program to turn them into owner-occupied residences. Instead of taking a chance that through the auction process they become rentals, find buyers who want to fix them up as their own homes.

"We should set up some type of committee to look into taking foreclosures and selling the property at a minimum cost to employees with some guarantees, and one of the guarantees would be that would agree to live in the property or five years," Buckley said.

In Buckley's plan, city employees would get the property a low cost, giving them instant equity that they could borrow against and invest $20,000 to $30,000 in home restoration.

There are 130 people employed by the city.

“When I was a young patrolman, I know I would have jumped at a program like this,“ Buckley said.

Christian said she was totally against the idea of making such a program available only to city employees.

"I would rather offer it to the whole community than just one single group," Christian said.

Councilman Frank Ferrando struck a middle ground, saying opening such a program to the whole community at first might pose too many complications.

"I think what Tim is saying will give us better control, and if the program works, we can expand later," Ferrando said.

City Manager Jason Molino agree to research a similar program Buckley said was once in place in Rochester, as well as what other cities might be doing along similar lines, and report back to the council.

Notice of foreclosure for unpaid taxes have been filed against more than a dozen property owners in the city.

Property owners have until May 14 to pay the back taxes or face foreclosure and have their properties put up for auction.

The properties listed by the city, with amounts owed, are:

606-622 E. Main St., Andrew Mistler, $23,375
643 Ellicott St., Rear, Chess, LLC, $306
13-15 Jackson St., Rear, C.L. Carr Properties, LLC, $2,939
4 Cherry St., Barbara A. Suozzi, $15,876
507 Ellicott St., Margaret J. Colantonio, $15,389
20 Franklin St., Maxin P. Johnson, $14,527
151 Harvester Ave., Jeffrey C. & Diane M. Shultz, $12,191
3 Manhattan Ave., David R. Foley, $21,190
16 Oak St., Mary M. Sorce, $10,707
11-13 Raymond Ave, Philip R. Zickl, Jr., $17,298
48 Riverview Parkway, DVM Corp., $649
21 South Lyon St., Richard S. and Tamara E. Ishmael, $21,544
132 Summit St., Thomas and Mary L. Geary, $4,705
1 Union St., Douglas C. and Lori A. Veltz, $21,027
308 Washington Ave., Rose L. Nigro, $3,585

One name that may jump out at readers is Mistler. I spoke briefly with Ken Mislter about his properties and he said there was a misunderstanding with the city. He said he's been working with the city to resolve the issue and the matter will be settled shortly.

This list originally appeared in the PennySaver. Part of the original list was 643 Ellicott St., Rear, owned by Hanson Aggregates. Those taxes have been paid, according to City Clerk Heidi Parker.