How Will Foreclosures Affect Tax Collection?

Boarded-up houses are being seen more often around the city and officials are discussing the effects, ranging from an increase in squatters to how it will affect the city's new high tax collection rate.

Since this picture was taken last week, somebody had to board up the broken second-story windows over the porch.

Squatters have been seen entering the rear of the building by climbing on the two low roofs to get in through a window. Note the clothes strewn on the higher of the two roofs.

Here's where people sit to drink, as evidenced by the bottles and cans strewn about.

A cache of bottles and cans is stuck behind a fence.

Meanwhile, at the Oct. 23 budget meeting, officials said an aggressive pursuit of taxes owed will go far to keep up the collection rate of 96.08, up from 95.48 last year. A tax lien sale is scheduled for Dec. 1 and the city will receive the amount of delinquent taxes from the lien buyers, who will then be owed the debt and can charge up to 18 percent interest.

Banks that foreclose on properties will most likely keep up loans to protect their investment. Between the banks and lienholders, taxes should be paid, auditor Bob Swisher said.

A member of the Citizens' Budget Advisory Committee asked whether the city was able to track the type of loans sold in recent years, but officials could not answer Thursday. Swisher did say that the most recent audit found that the city was not maintaining a list of foreclosures. A corrective action plan has been approved by the council to remedy all the audit findings.

Before a tax lien sale takes place, a list of delinquent property owners, the addresses of the properties and amounts owed are published several times in newspapers. Debtors can come to City Hall and pay up before the sale, otherwise they will owe the lien buyer and have to pay interest.

--Bernice Paglia