Oil City Manager Expresses Concern Over Repository Program

| August 24, 2018

OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – During his manager’s report at the Oil City Council meeting on Thursday night, City Manager Mark Schroyer expressed concern about the city’s Repository Program where people can buy tax-delinquent properties for $600.00.

“I don’t think we are getting from it what it was intended to do,” Schroyer said.

According to Schroyer, the idea behind the program is to take properties that are tax delinquent and get them into the hands of someone who can help refurbish the property. In return, the tax liens on the property and other monies possibly owed are waived.

But, Schroyer said what he is seeing is that the properties end up right back where they started from.

“People see it as a way to buy a $600.00 first home,” Schroyer said. “Three things occur. One, they don’t have the financial wherewithal to improve the house. Two, landlord want to turn it into rentals, which is not what they are intended for. Three, predators buy these houses for $600.00 and then put them up on eBay and sell them for several thousand dollars. We had one like this in January that sold for $8,100.00.”

Schroyer went on to say that he thinks it has “led directly to the decline of the city.”

“It’s a vicious cycle,” Schroyer said.

But, when the council asked solicitor Robert Varsek if the city was obligated to be part of the program, Varsek said it was because it is Commonwealth law.

Councilman Ron Gustafson then said one option for the city would be to use the Venango County Land Bank, which allows the city to buy the property because it gets to the repository (or sheriff’s) sale.

Michael Poff, another councilman, then asked if the city could do that and require a residency requirement if someone bought the house from the city. He cited a program in Pittsburgh that worked like that.

Schroyer said the problem the city has encountered when it buys a property from the land bank is that the city can’t sell the property to an individual interested in making it an individual resident.

“The only inquiries we have gotten for properties like that are from landlords looking to turn them into rentals, and we said we didn’t want that,” Schroyer said.

Because of that, Schroyer said what has happened is the city has had to demolish the buildings on the properties.

“If (we want to dabble in the land bank again) it is a strategy we could use,” Schroyer said. “But, we should use it knowing that the most likely outcome is we will need to demolish the building.”


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