POUGHKEEPSIE – The newly created Dutchess County-Poughkeepsie Land Bank held its organizational meeting on Wednesday. Erica Lane, appointed by the Poughkeepsie Common Council, has been named as chairwoman. Lane currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of the Kingston City Land Bank.
The board members consist of appointments from the common council, Mayor Rob Rolison’s office, the county legislature, and County Executive Marc Molinaro’s office. The inaugural meeting allowed the board to adopt bylaws, elect officers, adopt their budget, and hear a few comments from the public.
The primary focus of land bank operations is the acquisition of real property that is tax delinquent, tax-foreclosed, vacant, and abandoned, and the use of tools authorized by the state to eliminate the harms and liabilities caused by such properties. Community land banks throughout the state are attempting to take those types of properties and facilitate their return to the tax rolls.
The new land bank will serve all but one municipality in Dutchess County. The City of Beacon uses a different formula for tax sales, making the city ineligible to participate.
Eoin Wrafter, the county commissioner of Planning and Development, stressed to those in attendance that the Dutchess – Poughkeepsie Land Bank is an entirely separate entity, apart from city or county government, and will operate in that manner.
Karen Smythe, mayor of Red Hook, was in attendance and stressed to the board that properties are not only available in Poughkeepsie by throughout the county, including the village which she presides over.
The board adopted a budget of $150,000 for 2021-2022. The funding includes $100,000 startup money from the county, with the additional $50,000 coming from a combination of money from The Dyson Foundation and Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley.
Board Treasurer Angela DeFelice noted that properties will not be available immediately. “It will be at least a year or two for us to get properties.”
Until the land bank establishes a website, it will use an Instagram page to convey information to the public.
Members of the board include:
- Dr. Brian Martinez
- Marc Nelson
- Jacob Reckess
- Brian Engles
- Susan Fortunato
- Heidi Seelbach
- Eoin Wrafter
- Erica Lane
