Attorney
General Mike DeWine
Start
of
Funds for Demolition Grant Recipients Available
(COLUMBUS,
Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that grant funds for
the
demolition of abandoned houses through the Moving Ohio Forward Program
are now
available for approved grant recipients. After applications or requests
for
extensions were received from all 88 Ohio counties, the initial grant
contracts
were sent to approved counties starting today.
“I am
pleased that every county in Ohio is making an effort to utilize these
funds,”
said DeWine. “One of the biggest things holding this state back from
moving
forward is the vast number of abandoned and vacant homes littering Ohio. They are a blight on our
communities, rotting
them from the inside out.”
The Moving
Ohio Forward Demolition Program helps stabilize and improve communities
by
removing blighted and abandoned homes with funds from the national
mortgage
settlement reached earlier this year. The Demolition Program requires
that a
lead entity, such as a land bank or local government, apply for the
funds on
behalf of each county in Ohio.
The
deadline for submitting applications was July 2nd. 80 counties
submitted
applications, while the remaining eight counties were granted
extensions for
filing the initial applications.
The total
amount of funding available to each county is based on the percentage
of
foreclosure filings in each county between 2008 and 2011 (which is the
time
period of the settlement agreement) divided by the total amount of
funding ($75
million). Not all
counties applied for
their full allocation; however, counties may submit additional
applications as
matching funds become available. Allocated funds will remain dedicated
to a
county until December 31, 2013. The funds may be reallocated if funds
remain
unspent on eligible reimbursement projects.
Attorney
General DeWine has informed 27 counties of funds availability pursuant
to their
processed and approved applications. Other counties will be notified as
their
applications are processed and approved, with all awards for submitted
and
complete applications being made available by August 1, 2012. The
counties who
were notified in the initial announcements included:
Adams
Allen
Ashland
Athens
Auglaize
Belmont
Brown
Carroll
Clermont
Columbiana
Crawford
Cuyahoga
Franklin
Hamilton
Harrison
Huron
Jackson
Knox
Licking
Lucas
Mahoning
Montgomery
Pickaway
Scioto
Summit
Trumbull
Tuscarawas
Local
communities with questions regarding this program should contact the
Ohio
Attorney General’s Office, Mortgage Foreclosure Unit, 30 E. Broad St.,
15th
Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215, or email at
MovingOhioForward@ohioattorneygeneral.gov. Information is also
available online
at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/MovingOhioForward.
|