ACTION REQUESTED:
Title
Communication from the City Manager and Finance Director with a Request to ADOPT an ORDINANCE Amending the CODE of the City of Peoria Relating to REGISTRATION OF FORECLOSED PROPERTY
Body
BACKGROUND:
City Staff recently met with representatives from PAAR and we are working on updated language to explicitly exclude pre-foreclosure from this process and require registry only on active foreclosures where the County has received papers that the property is in foreclosure. An amended Ordinance will be distributed under separate cover.
Included in the City’s Biennial Budget is revenue associated with the establishment of a fee for the registration of properties that are in foreclosure or foreclosed. This is a first reading of an ordinance to establish a process to address the deterioration, crime, and decline in value of City of Peoria neighborhoods caused by property with foreclosing or foreclosed mortgages located within the City of Peoria, and to identify, regulate, limit and reduce the number of these properties located within the City of Peoria.
Vacant structures or structures owned by individuals who are economically strained and unable to meet their mortgage obligations are often not properly or diligently maintained. Lack of maintenance contributes to blight, declining property values, and has a negative impact on social perception of the residential areas where they are located.
This ordinance would establish a registration program as a mechanism to help protect neighborhoods from becoming blighted through the lack of adequate maintenance of properties that are in Foreclosure or Foreclosed, and to provide a mechanism to avert foreclosure actions through timely intervention, education, or counseling of property Owners.
The ordinance establishes a fee of $300 payable semi-annually for properties in foreclosure or foreclosed. It requires the timely delivery of important information for the City to be able to effectively identify and communicate with relevant properties in the event of problems with the property. This includes the ownership, and identifying a local agent associated with the property. The registration of this information and payment of fee continues until the property is out of foreclosure or no longer foreclosed.
The City proposes that an RFP be issued to identify a qualified and experienced third party to manage the program, deliver the associated data in the form needed by various department and collect the funds.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The City estimates revenue in the amount of $300,000 as a result of this fee.
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS: Foreclosures have a negative impact upon neighborhoods. Lack of maintenance contributes to blight, declining property values, and has a negative impact on social perception of the residential areas where they are located.
IMPACT IF APPROVED: The City will continue to have a balanced budget and have funding collected to support management of these problematic properties.
IMPACT IF DENIED: The City will need to alter the biennial budget in response to the loss of $300,000 in revenue expected from this program.
ALTERNATIVES: N/A
EEO CERTIFICATION NUMBER: N/A
WHICH OF THE GOALS IDENTIFIED IN THE COUNCIL’S 2017 - 2032 STRATEGIC PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION ADVANCE?
1. Beautiful Peoria
2. Grow Peoria
WHICH CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S) FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION IMPLEMENT?
1. Reinvest in neighborhoods.
DEPARTMENT: City Manager's Office