BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

Blighted properties are difficult to sell and create a massive drain on taxpayers when they linger on the tax rolls for years.

In hopes of  reducing that burden by returning more properties to the tax roll St. Lawrence County will establish a fund to bring blighted tax foreclosed properties up to code.

On Aug. 1 legislators agreed to establish a $200,000 fund and up to an additional $100,000 from funding generated at the tax auction to remediate properties.

The fund to address blighted properties acquired by the county would function in a similar manner to the county’s efforts in remediating petroleum contaminated properties to make them eligible for sale.

In recent years the county has been highly successful at selling properties to get them back on the tax roll.

On an annual basis St. Lawrence County auctions off tax foreclosed properties but many are in too poor condition to be sold. However, poor conditions and contamination can throw a wrench in the process.

“Periodically there are properties that are not released to a new owner though the auction process due to deficiencies in the structures of the property or the property itself,” she said.

Legislators said such properties become a liability to the county and result in costs to maintain, forcing taxpayers to make local municipals whole on the property taxes.

For the upcoming 2022 auction alone the county identified 29 parcels as poor or condemned. Seven of those properties were withdrawn from the 2022 auctions and four of the seven were sold, but unable to be transferred due to deficiencies at a prior auction.

“The value of outstanding June taxes on those 29 parcels is approximately $283,440, the outstanding amount of June taxes due on the seven withdrawn or severed parcels is $90788.”

Legislators say a targeted approach to tackling blighted properties within the various towns, villages and the City of Ogdensburg would prove to be effective as the environmental remediation program developed years ago to target petroleum-based contamination on commercial properties.

According to legislators the tax sale of acquired properties held by the county has yielded approximately $525,000 in net gain on sale versus the outstanding taxes over the last four years.