City gets new blight deadline - and a warning
MUNCIE, Ind. — State officials have given the city of Muncie new, later deadlines for beginning to spend $4 million in blight elimination funds awarded in 2014.
They've also delivered a warning.
In granting new deadlines in December for the city, Rayanna Binder, director of the Blight Elimination Program for the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, had a warning for Mayor Dennis Tyler in a Sept. 7 letter.
"Please be aware that failure to comply with the new milestone date may result in a portion of your Blight Elimination Program award being rescinded or terminated altogether," Binder wrote. The paragraph was in boldface.
The city last week awarded a contract to demolish the first 11 of about 200 properties targeted for Hardest Hit funds. The city has more than 2,000 blighted or vacant properties.
In July and August, Tyler wrote to state officials and cited paperwork and the slow pace of court proceedings in seeking, and winning, extensions from the state for beginning to spend $4 million in blight elimination funds through the Hardest Hit program.
State officials recently released to The Star Press the letters that Tyler and other city officials wrote to win delays in the deadline for spending half of the $4 million in state funding the city won in 2014.
In asking for deadline extensions, the city also noted that some owners of properties that the city would like to tear down for blight don't want to cooperate with the program.
In the meantime, the city has won additional extensions to start the demolition process. The state recently extended September and October deadlines for spending half of the $4 million to Dec. 1 and Dec. 22.
The Star Press has reported on the city's struggles in beginning its blight program. City officials have cited the complicated process, and in one letter from the state to Tyler, the state cited 19 steps the city had to take.
Muncie faces new deadline on $4 million to remove blighted houses
The state last week released copies of the city's letters requesting extended deadlines in response to an Aug. 9 request from The Star Press.
In the first letter to the state signed by Tyler and dated July 1, the mayor cited tax sale court proceedings filed on 107 properties that were "awaiting the signature of the Delaware County judge. We have no control over how long this process will take."
In a later letter to the state, Tyler wrote, "Even after waiting for the six to 12-month redemption period to end, it is taking more than three months for the court to issue a tax deed."
In an August letter, Muncie blight elimination program administrator Zane Bishop told state officials that some property owners don't want to give or sell their properties to the city for blight elimination and don't want to rehab the properties.
Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.