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An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny authorizing the County to enter into an intergovernmental cooperation agreement with various municipalities and school districts within the County for the purpose of joining in the formation and establishment of a public body, corporate and politic, to be known as the Tri-COG Land Bank.
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WHEREAS, many municipalities within Allegheny County are struggling to cope with vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties; and
WHEREAS, vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties impose significant costs on municipalities and school districts by lowering property values, increasing fire and police protection costs, decreasing tax revenues and undermining community cohesion; and
WHEREAS, there is an overriding public need to confront the problems caused by vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties through the creation of new tools to enable municipalities to turn vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent spaces into vibrant places; and
WHEREAS, in 2012, the Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted a statute known as the Land Bank Act, 68 Pa.C.S.A. ยง2101 et. seq. (Supp. 2015); and
WHEREAS, the Land Bank Act authorizes the creation of land banks as a tool, by which participating municipalities and school districts can combat blight and facilitate the return of vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties to productive use; and
WHEREAS, Section 2104 (c) the Land Bank Act authorizes municipalities and school districts to jointly create a land bank pursuant to an intergovernmental cooperation agreement; and
WHEREAS, the Clairton City School District, the Fox Chapel School District, the Gateway School District, the City of Clairton, the Borough of Sharpsburg, the Municipality of Monroeville, the Borough of Braddock Hills, the Borough of Chalfant, the Borough of Churchill, the Borough of East Pittsburgh, the Borough of Forest Hills, the Borough of Swissvale, the Borough of Turtle Creek, and the Township ...
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