Jun 16, 2016 2 min read

The Washington County Redevelopment Authority plans three public meetings later this month to discuss its new land bank aimed at returning tax-delinquent properties to the tax rolls.

Here is the schedule: 10 a.m. June 28 in Donora council chambers, 603 Meldon Ave.; 2 p.m. June 29, McDonald council chambers, 151 School St.; and 6 p.m. June 29, in the public meeting room of the Courthouse Square office building, Washington.

The county commissioners earlier this year adopted an ordinance that sets land banking in motion.

The initial fee to join the land bank will be $3,000 and $1,000 each year thereafter. The proceeds from the sale of a property would be returned to the land bank to fund future purchases. Municipalities planning to join must also have the school district on board.

A land bank has the capacity to negotiate a sale price for property before it is placed on the auction block at the annual judicial sale, which takes place each June. At a judicial sale, properties on which the owner owes back taxes are sold without local liens – erased by court order – although unpaid state and federal obligations remain.

Initial participants include the cities of Washington and Monongahela, Charleroi Borough and East Bethlehem Township, and their school districts, Washington, Ringgold, Charleroi and Bethlehem-Center, respectively.

Re-use of buildings is an objective, but demolition is also a possibility. The land bank’s first-year budget has been estimated at $300,000.