Town offers fixer-uppers to reduce blight, bring in taxes

ROCK FALLS, Ill. (AP) - The city seems to have found a way repair some of its blighted neighborhoods.

The city is establishing a Homestead Program that will help turn vacant or rundown properties into livable homes, and turn those who want to put in the time and effort to improve those properties into homeowners.

'œThe city over the last 2 years has really had more than their fair share of abandoned properties, and some of them we've been advertising and taking bids on,'ť City Administrator Robbin Blackert said.

That process, though, is expensive and onerous, sometimes costing more in attorney fees and advertising than the city will make from the sale.

In reviewing the state's Urban Redevelopment Act, Blackert found the Homestead Program, and thought it would be a good fit for Rock Falls.

Under the program, the city will list available properties on its website and spell out the process for obtaining them.

The city isn't looking to charge for the homes, but will do inspections as work is being done, to let the homesteader know what needs to be done and by when. The homesteader will be required to live there for 3 years once the place in habitable.

'œThis would allow us to be able to offer these homes to people at little or no money,'ť Blackert said. 'œWe might be able to provide homes for someone who, say, haven't been out of high school for very long or they are very interested in the building trades and they're handy. This would let them fix up the house.'ť

The homeowner, the city and the neighborhood will benefit: The program will give a home to a person who will fix it up and put it back on the tax rolls and and make neighbors happy because they won't have to deal with the vagrants, animals or trash that abandoned properties can attract, she said.

Officials hope to have the program up and running sometime this summer, although the COVID-19 pandemic has everything on hold.

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Source: Sauk Valley Media, https://bit.ly/3d12cB8