MANSFIELD — A delay in state reimbursement for approved projects is impacting the ability of Richland County Land Bank to do larger projects, according to board members.
The Land Bank has been waiting on the Ohio Department of Development for three months for a $754,718 reimbursement for the demolition of the former Denver Roof buildings in Mansfield.
“(We) have heard some Land Banks have been waiting for four months for payment,” board President Bart Hamilton said Wednesday during a board meeting.
“Not only have we not gotten money, but we have gotten more questions (from ODOD), to clarify certain things,” Hamilton said.
He said some Land Banks have been using lines of credit with banks in order to make payments to contractors, including interest on those credit lines, which the state will not reimburse.
“This is a problem,” Hamilton said.
According to the financial report discussed Wednesday, the Land Bank has $40,708 in its bank account, a fact that has stopped efforts to complete the cleanup at the former YMCA site on Park Avenue West in Mansfield.
It is also affecting the speed with which the Land Bank is awarding contracts for the Lead Safe Ohio program.
The ODOD has authorized Richland County to spend $1.35 million to fund exterior rehab projects at homes and other facilities across the county, including replacing siding, windows, exterior doors, roofs, downspouts, gutters, exterior trim, fascia or soffit, as well as repairing or replacing porches.
Until reimbursements are flowing again, local Land Bank officials said they are cautious about awarding too many similar contracts.
In addition to state and federal grants, county Land Banks in Ohio are primarily funded through delinquent property tax and assessment collections. Counties can increase the DTAC fund to provide operating income for land banks.
The Richland County Land Bank has also established a line of credit with Park National Bank, but has not yet drawn down any of those funds.
“(ODOD) response is they’ve just got a lot of requests and a lot of things and that they’ve just slowed down,” said Amy Hamrick, the Land Bank executive director. They have a lot of work and a lot more requests than they have people to process.”
Jeff Parton, board vice chair, asked if ODOD had shifted staff members to processing new grant applications, reducing the number of people handling reimbursements.
Hamilton said, “They are notorious for that. They moved people over to look at the grants … the people who normally pay the bills. Now they are taking people back to pay the bills.
“But you have got a stack of bills,” he said, gesturing several inches high.
