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WHEREAS, strong communities are important to the social and economic vitality of the Commonwealth; and,
WHEREAS, many communities within the Commonwealth are struggling to cope with vacant, abandoned and tax delinquent properties that impose significant costs on neighborhoods, communities and municipalities by lower property values, increasing police and fire protection costs, decreasing tax revenues and undermining the quality of life for those residing therein; and,
WHEREAS, in the City of Pittsburgh there exist approximately 25,000 vacant lots and vacant structures, the majority of which are abandoned and tax delinquent, and a majority of which remain in private ownership, representing a blighting influence in every neighborhood they exist; and,
WHEREAS, the current Treasurer's Sale process is an ineffective tool for acquiring these properties and making them available for redevelopment, resulting in an overriding public need to confront the problems caused by vacant, abandoned and tax delinquent properties through the creation of new tools to enable municipalities to turn vacant, abandoned and tax delinquent properties into productive assets and vibrant places; and,
WHEREAS, it has been proven in other states that land banks are a tool that municipalities may use to facilitate the return of vacant, abandoned and tax delinquent properties to productive use; and,
WHEREAS, House Bill 1682 and Senate Bill 1414 authorize the creation of municipal land banks that empower municipalities of this Commonwealth to efficiently acquire these vacant, abandoned and tax delinquent properties and facilitate redevelopment while eliminating the ability of speculators to let vacant land or abandoned properties sit idle; and,
WHEREAS, House Bill 1682 and Senate Bill 1414 provide municipalities broad discretion to establish policies to govern the implementation of a municipal land bank, as they contain all the necessary elements and provisions for the establishment of effective and efficient land banks throughout the Commonwealth;
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NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby call upon the Pennsylvania Senate to pass House Bill 1682 and Senate Bill 1414, and to ensure the bill maintains the current provision making it applicable to all municipalities in the Commonwealth.