www.news10.com/news/troy-city-council-calls-for-housing-task-force/
Democratic City Councillors call for Housing Task Force
I hope you're right! It would really be nice to see both sides working together on an issue that many can relate with
Good, though I think that what people imagine this to be and what it will turn into are two wildly different things. Also:
The Quality of Life Task Force, which began earlier this month, is helping departments communicate better. It’s already identified over 40 buildings on the Red X list in Troy, of which roughly a dozen are at risk of collapse.
I have to imagine these were "identified" at whatever time they gained the "red x building" award and that all the taskforce did was open the list? Or is this not tracked anywhere, and the taskforce drove around and counted X's?
Yeah, tearing down buildings that are uninhabitable isn’t exactly the same as providing sensible housing and planning policies.
What it could be and what it will be depends on how much we make the Council and the mayor understand we are watching this.
City Council meets twice a month! And one of those is a finance meeting, so as long as folks can attend at least 1 of those a month... it could be impactful
I would also like to point out that Carmella has sensationalized some of this with inaccurate information. She claimed that red x's have been around for "decades". This is completely false. The red x's have barely been around for 10 years. If you lived in Troy in the early 2000's, there were no red x's on anything. With that said, I do think that some of these properties need to be dealt with but there is NO REASON that bill needs to be paid by the taxpayers. NYS has a zombie law that requires that the bank, or developer, or whomever owns the property to foot the bill for the cost of demolition when the property is deemed uninhabitable. However, I do not know how this law applies when we have a Mayor randomly tearing down buildings at 10 o'clock at night. People also seem to be forgetting that there was a local project called "Breathing Lights" that literally already identified many of these vacant properties years ago. But sure, Carmella, if you really need to take credit for every little thing you didn't do....
From Breathing Lights Homepage:
"Breathing Lights was sited in 200 houses, approximately 65 each in Albany, Schenectady and Troy, NY. To present an accurate snapshot of vacancy in the Capital Region, the Breathing Lights team lit almost every house that was available, regardless of location, condition or architectural features. The maps reference where houses were lit. Gray dots represent vacant buildings. Yellow dots represent vacant buildings lit by Breathing Lights. The buildings Breathing Lights lit represented less than 10% of the vacant buildings that existed in the region at the time.".
The city when it has to tear down an unsafe building (red x, post fire, random collapse, etc) pays for demo upfront then bills owner. If they don't pay, it is relevied onto taxes. If they disagree about cost, insurance gets in the mix or other stuff it goes to court. So it takes time to recoup the cost but the city will get paid.
There are due process requirements the city must follow to tear down a privately owned building. Under the Constitution Government can't "take" private property away by demo without following certain notice and opportunities for decisions to be challenged in court. The red x/vacant building list is part of that back and forth. Emergency demos in the interest of public safety are weighed against property rights by the court. So that legal back and forth can slow payment for demo, stop demo or drag things out. Also "zombie properties" in multiple mortgage foreclosure or bank owners take more time. NYS did do a good job of pushing on bank owned zombie properties and our Code Dept got a lot of properties out of the hands of banks and back on the market...but they had to drag them to court to do it.
Breathing lights was an amazing project and helped raise awareness and save buildings that would have been lost. Historic Albany does deconstruction and salvage and Troy's Recycling Dept hosted a statewide salvage/deconstruction conference last year. When a building can't be saved, it is awesome to save as much as possible if it can be removed safely.
Not every RedX building is going to fall down but they are unsafe for emergency responders (missing egress or stairs or stuff). But the red x does symbolize that something (expensive) has to be done to regain a certificate of occupancy. I'm guessing former Mayor Harry Tutunjin started the red x system as he had some nuisance and housing quality policies that were enacted back then. Yes not "decades" but at least 15 years. It works in tandem with Vacant Building Registry (which may or may not have red x).
There is $1M in American rescue plan funds for demo of unsafe buildings that will have to be spent in the next few years, so expect more demo videos. ARPA money is use it or lose it.
Found a copy of the press release, as follows:
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS CALL FOR HOUSING TASK FORCE IN TROY
The Democratic caucus of the Troy City Council is calling on the mayor to establish a Housing Task Force to address issues including its aging housing stock, rising rents, and barriers to home ownership.
“Like many communities throughout New York and across the country, Troy has felt the burden of the housing crisis in the last few years. Additionally, recent actions have resulted in housing insecurity for some Troy residents and highlight the need for a community-driven, holistic response to this challenge,” said Aaron Vera, former City Engineer and current Council District 4 representative.
“The Democrats envision a Housing Task Force constituted by tenants, property owners, and local community leaders to study and create an actionable plan to address issues of vacancy, housing affordability, home ownership, housing quality, and the impact of these issues on the upward economic mobility of Troy’s residents,” said Council President Sue Steele.
District 3 Council member Katie McLaren urged “Republican Council colleagues and members of the Mantello administration to join us in what we hope is a bipartisan effort to tackle the challenges that face Troy’s residents and businesses.”
Democrats suggest the Housing Task Force take a holistic approach, initially focusing on the following goals:
● Support residents of Troy as they navigate the local housing market and increase the availability of quality and affordable options across the income spectrum for both renters and homeowners. ● Connect residents with existing home ownership possibilities. ● Preserve and enhance Troy’s existing housing stock by providing training to property owners and facilitating enforcement of existing code to protect the City’s residents. ● Work with Code enforcement to develop clear guidelines for identifying unsafe housing conditions and protocols for the relocation of individuals affected. ● Create an actionable plan to protect residents and ensure safe housing for residents whose homes have been deemed unsafe. ● Provide quality housing stock that takes into consideration economic development, transportation planning, and the socio-economic health of the city and its residents. ● Fund a Vacancy Study to provide the necessary background for the creation of a Strategic Housing Action Plan.
I wish there were something in here about bad landlords. Absentee landlords and also banks who keep houses vacant rather than sell the buildings at a loss. Then squatters move in out the buildings just fall apart. So bad for our neighborhoods. Would be good to have a plan for taking that on comprehensively.
Do you think that vacant house owners (regardless of whether it’s an individual or entity) should be forced to sell their property at a loss? I don’t believe that’s fair
Edit: I would be in favor of some sort of fee or tax on unoccupied homes/units
I agree that there should be some sort of fee or tax. But these properties also pose a risk to the community... how many fires have there been in the capital district recently that originated in an abandoned property and then moved to one that's inhabited, thus leaving those folks displaced? It's happened more than once, and I think the owners of those vacant properties should have to answer for that. These properties need to be properly locked up and maintained (even at bare minimum standards) to at least prevent squatters. If you don't take those steps, regardless of whether you're a bank, developer, or individual, I don't exactly feel for you having to sell your property at a loss. This is not some multi thousand dollar project, it's literally a few locks and some boards, and perhaps a lawn mow every now and then. If that's asking too much, then maybe you deserve to sell at a loss.
It exists in the vacant building fee/registry. At the 5 year mark it is $5k annually.
Changing how the city taxes real property could motivate density and infill and expand housing supply. A Georgist inspired land value tax, instead of tax on improvements (tax the soil not the house) motivates people to build more units per parcel. Single family homes utilize land less efficiently than multifamily-- consuming more infrastructure resources per person than a denser multi-family.
For instance half of my block could house 88 people comfortably (approx 44 apts over 11 houses) with the same amount of water/sewer, paving infrastructure as a block of single families that might house half the number of people. More people, more sales tax, more customers for business, more motivation for public transit, etc. If you don't want people around, no worries -- the tax is going to be higher per person living on that lower density single family parcel.
There's a lot more to full blown Georgist economic theory (like no income tax) but land value tax is progressive taxation. That being said, it's probably not going to be enacted bc it would have to also include the county and state agreeing. But a nerd can dream...
If you're interested: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism
This feels like a different conversation.
What I see as a root problem in our neighborhoods are landlords who don’t care about the neighborhood because they don’t live here.
If we want to build a solution into the tax code for that I’m in favor of preferential treatment for owner-occupied housing, including multi-unit.
But what I was actually talking about above is my understanding that banks benefit on their taxes by continuing to show the vacant houses they own as deficit to counter their overall profits. Is this something you know about?
My understanding is that the banks hold onto the properties so they can show them as deficit on their tax returns to counter their profits and pay less in taxes.
I don’t know a lot about how these things work, but I do think they shouldn’t be incentivized to keep houses in our neighborhoods vacant and falling apart.
And I think we should be righteously angry at these big financial institutions for creating a depressing environment more susceptible to crime, fire, garbage, and general public health risks.
And it blows my mind that individuals who don’t benefit from their grift defend it
Well perhaps the tax code should be changed to end the practice but I think it’s shortsighted to lay all of the blame on the “big financial institutions” especially in a city like Troy that’s own property tax system puts the heavier burden on the individual homeowner (whether it’s an individual or an entity such as a bank) & fails to tax (or at least equitably tax) all of the churchs/RPI while handing out out tax rebates to developers who build crap projects, with enormous rent, and the general aesthetic of a Panera Bread. I’m also not sure why anyone would need to defend the “grift” of adhering to the law as it is written.
I disagree with a lot of what you’re writing but I think you and I would agree that the local tax code needs to be rewritten to favor owner-occupied homes. The reason the banks end up opening these homes in the first place is that homeowner—some who have lived there for generations—can’t keep up with the taxes.
I do believe that is part of what can be accomplished through a strategic housing action plan.
We need leaders that are willing to stand up to banks and developers (i.e Vecino Group in Troy) and hold them accountable. Enough of this 'slap on the wrist' bs. My 5-story building didn't have a working elevator in the summer of '22 for 2 straight months in the dog days of summer. It got to the point where it made local news. We were told by Code that since the company was "working on it" there was nothing they could do. We were helping disabled folks get down the stairs while this was "being repaired". 621, and 444 River Street (both owned by them) have some very serious issues going on that the city isn't addressing.
I didn't realize Vera was the previous city engineer! I think this is well put and I completely agree. We need to have more community members involved beyond city reps. It is so much more effective to hear directly from those impacted by these issues and work hand-in-hand with them to address those issues.
Where were they when there was a Dem mayor?
Steele emphasized the work the city has been doing for years to address the housing crisis, adding these plans did not start last week. Watson echoed that and stressed the Housing Task Force was initially proposed under a Democratic majority last year, but was rejected by the Democratic mayor at the time
Rejected by Madden? On what grounds?
It was legislation I put forward to start the process to access state funds for accessory dwelling units and create a landlord-tenant coalition. Madden "didn't understand it" and said would veto but also never asked a single question in the two weeks he had the legislation to review. But that was par for the course--ignore or let it languish on corporate council desk.
Glad this is moving forward as there is some productive stuff here. Redlined multifamily is cut out from housing improvement American rescue plan money, which TRIP is administrating. If you own a single family or duplex hit them up though.
What does this mean,
“ Redlined multifamily is cut out from housing improvement American rescue plan money, which TRIP is administrating”
There is money from American Rescue Plan to fix up housing. ARPA money is being administed by TRIP (Troy Residential Improvement Program) so if you own a home you can get a grant for new roof, sidewalk, HVAC, etc.
HOWEVER, the applications are limited to one and two family owner occupied homes. That excludes most of the housing from the Burg, North Central, Downtown or South Troy, where multifamily (3+ units) are more common. These were the parts of Troy that were redlined (excluded from federal $$ from the 1940s-70s) unlike the Eastside, Frear Park or up the hill neighborhoods.
Because even owner occupied multifamily is by default rental, it was excluded bc "rent pays those bills". Allowing rental properties to access grants means better quality housing and that expensive renos like a new furnace or roof don't get passed on to tenants as big rent increases. Smaller 3-6 unit buildings have no access to PILOTs either. Even if they not rental but were condos or coops they would be excluded due to number of units.
All improvements to housing via ARPA is great, but it bothers me that a big part of our city was cut out from the opportunity.
Thank you! Do you have any sense of when and how the money will become available?
I actually think that these conditions make a lot of sense but I hope it doesn’t mean that the pot of money goes unspent. Landlords are better about knowing what resources are out there and while I am onboard with favoring owner-occupied (especially 1-2 units), the whole neighborhood benefits when these high-occupancy decrepit buildings get facelifted
Right?
I’m grateful that the Dem council members are stepping up and calling for action, as I’ve seen lots of problems related to housing throughout the city, from housing insecurity to aging housing stick and a lack of affordable options for first-time buyers.
This can’t pass unless it happens in a bipartisan fashion, so I hope the Republicans majority and the mayor are supportive of the effort and put a team together to do a data-driven analysis and come up with an actual plan.
I’ve lived in cities that took a less proactive approach to problems like housing and infrastructure, which are complicated and take time to solve. As more people move into the area (the migratory trend is still pushing this way), it will be helpful to understand the challenge and take steps to be prepared so we don’t start turning the tanker around after we’ve already run aground.