SCRANTON, Pa. — Two properties along Wayne Avenue in Scranton are no longer vacant. The Lackawanna County Land Bank acquires vacant, abandoned, or tax-delinquent properties and works to transfer them to new owners. And that's what happened here.
Land bank officials say it's another milestone for reducing blight in the county.
"We have so many properties throughout the city of Scranton, throughout Lackawanna County, that just sat dormant over the years as our population has decreased. You have some of these properties that didn't have uses again, and the land bank really makes it possible to put those back into productive use," said Jesse Ergott, advisory committee chairperson for the land bank.
This is the 300th property that the Lackawanna County Land Bank has successfully transferred.
Jenna O'Malley and Corey Walsh bought the home that bordered both vacant properties back in July. The couple asked their realtor about the properties because they were overgrown.
"We looked into it and found out it was from the land bank, and my mom a few years ago actually bought a property from a land bank in South Side, so she told us how great of an opportunity it was, and we went for it," said O'Malley.
The couple was able to purchase both properties for a total of $650 and look forward to their larger property.
"We plan to just keep it as a yard, but maybe down the road, a garage or something like that," O'Malley said.
Officials say everyone wins when these blighted properties are purchased because they get back on the tax roll.
Lackawanna County Commissioner Debi Domenick says the revenue from these property taxes is very important.
"We aren't in the best shape, to say the least. That's putting it mildly from a financial standpoint, and we need recurring revenue because right now, our expenses far outweigh any revenue that we have," said Commissioner Domenick.
The Lackawanna County Land Bank still has dozens of properties available on its website.