Chautauqua County Land Bank Executive Director Gina Paradis presents to Jamestown City Council (August 22, 2022)
The Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation is requesting $1 million in American Rescue Plan funds from the City of Jamestown.
Land Bank Executive Director Gina Paradis presented her request to Jamestown City Council on Monday. She said the organization’s main mission is to fight issues of housing blight in the County, spending 65% of her time in the City of Jamestown.
Paradis said housing is a very expensive thing to intervene in and that the Land Bank tries to be very strategic about its acquisitions, “Things about our dispositions, our programming, and make sure we’re leveraging not only what the municipalities are spending on housing issues but also what other non-profits are doing. We really try to ensure that we’re collaborating and coordinating our efforts with both the public and the private sector.”
Paradis said over $11 million has been invested in the City of Jamestown in the last ten years, “This comes in the form of our Sales-4-Rehab program, the number of assessed value we put back on the tax rolls is around $2.5 million in assessed value from our rehab program and about $5.9 million in private reinvestment.”
She added that $2.7 million has been put into the demolition of 100 homes in Jamestown in the last ten years as well.
She said those who purchase a house from the Land Bank have to commit to a renovation plan and budget as part of the sales contract. She said the Land Bank can take a house back if the owner doesn’t meet the terms of the agreement.
Paradis said the request of $1 million in ARPA funds would cover 4-years of programming including the expansion of the Hands On program, First Time Homebuyer Incentives and Rebates, Demolition and a Land Bank Information Management Platform. She said the funds, if approved by the city, would help her leverage additional funds from New York State.
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