Land Bank Bill

VINCENNES, IND. (WTHI) -       An Indiana lawmaker has pre-filed a bill to help communities try and deal with abandoned properties. The Land Bank Bill is designed to allow cities and towns tackle problem properties so that they can be re-developed.

     The bill won't make communities any money but in the long run might make neighbors more happy that they aren't dealing with an eyesore next door.

     Every community has property that has fallen apart, creating problems for the neighborhood.

     The new Land Bank Bill though would streamline the process that would allow communities to deal with problem properties.

     "The hope is that instead of that property sitting for a lengthy period of time, decreasing property vales, it's a way to get them back on the market, lived in in a faster more effective manner," said 45th District State Representative Kreg Battles of Vincennes.

     Battles says the project most likely wouldn't save the cities any money, but could be a big benefit to neighbors.

     "For property owners around those abandoned homes we're getting people in them quicker," explained Battles.  "They are being taken care of and maintained more quickly and we're not seeing those foreclosed and abandoned properties sit for so long."

     Rundown property is an issue in virtually every community in the state.

 Indianapolis alone has 15,000 of abandoned property and  in Vincennes the city council has made special appropriations, sometimes as much as $45,000 to deal with the problem and so far they haven't been able to solve it.

     "Whether this is the answer or not, time will tell, but clearly its something that is well worth a shot and looking at," said Battles.

     An idea that could help cities keep problem properties from become someone's eyesore next door.

     The Land Bank Bill is being carried by State Representative Ed Clere, a Republican from New Albany.