(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today awarded more than $3.8 million in additional demolition grants to 87 Ohio counties. The additional grants were a reallocation of unrequested funds from the "Ohio Attorney General’s Moving Ohio Forward Program."
“The 'Ohio Attorney General’s Moving Ohio Forward Program' has been successful in helping the many Ohioans who were victims of neighborhood blight caused by the foreclosure crisis,” said Attorney General DeWine. “By demolishing abandoned, blighted homes, we have been making a real effort to help stabilize neighborhoods and remove public safety hazards. I am pleased to make these additional funds available so counties can demolish additional structures.”
The "Ohio Attorney General’s Moving Ohio Forward Program" helps stabilize and improve communities by removing blighted and abandoned homes with funds from the national mortgage settlement reached in 2012. 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.
Attorney General DeWine designated $75 million of Ohio's settlement share for the demolition program, allocating funds to each of Ohio’s 88 counties based upon the percentage of foreclosures that occurred in that county between 2008 and 2010, the period of the settlement. In Phase One of the grants, counties were required to provide matching funds for any grant above $500,000. However, several counties did not apply for their full allocation, leaving $3,820,826 in unrequested funds.
For Phase Two grants, DeWine has reallocated the unrequested funds based upon the same formula as the original allocations, with each county receiving a minimum of $7,800 for the demolition of at least one more blighted structure. Counties that did not use their full allocation in Phase One of the grants were given the opportunity to request funds from their unused allocation to fund specific demolition projects. Warren County was the only county that declined additional grant funding.
DeWine said counties would have until September 30, 2014 to use the Phase Two grant funds, and no matching funds will be required to utilize the Phase Two grants. Counties have until May 31, 2014 to use the Phase One grant funds. A decision on unused grant funds from Phase One would be made after that time.
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Documents
Phase Two Grant Awards (PDF)
Media Contacts
Dan Tierney: 614-466-3840
Lisa Hackley: 614-466-3840