Demolition program comes up short

Clark County received about $150,000 in matching money to demolish vacant and abandoned homes, but will likely spend less than a third of it.

David Fleck, Clark County community development grants coordinator, said the county might spend just $45,000 of the matching funds allocated to the county through the states Moving Ohio Forward Demolition Program.

The remaining money will be returned to the state because the county, townships and villages havent been able to come up with the local money to match the grant dollars.

Since December, the county has razed 22 houses and Fleck expected to demolish five more before the May 31 deadline.

The county has the money do more, Fleck said, but we have to get people to step up with matching money But right now these townships and villages are cash strapped.

The national mortgage settlement awarded $25 billion in relief to distressed borrowers. The agreement settled state and federal investigations that accused the countrys five largest loan servicers of violating laws by signing foreclosure documents without a notary public and without knowing whether the facts in those documents were accurate.

All 88 counties applied to the Ohio Attorney Generals Office for a portion of $75 million in demolition grants that are part of Ohios settlement.

Clark County and Springfield received a total of $943,000 from the program.

The entities split the first $500,000, with the county getting $235,000 and the city about $265,000. Those grants didnt require the local governments to provide any matching money from their budgets.

That left about $443,000 for the city and county to use that required the use of local money to match the grant dollars.

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Demolition program comes up short