Contin
1
Ie for b ck taxes of 2,015.21. record reve the city demolished the
ccording to Bapti , the p per propertie :
wor w s in proce to h ve th rent -178 Garfield which was put up for
vendored t the 2 8 ddre . � bid t th 1983 tax le for 1,587 in
Doe DSS have re ponsibility to pa tax and Craig Lane till has legal
that rental unit meet health and right to the property.
ty code ? -940 Broad a i owned by. Craig
0, y Lee Hun ber er, Lane and h s only one year's delinquen-
tance . Payment ... Speci Ii t for the De- cy of 526.09
partment of Social S rvice in Lan- -570 Pearl is owned by Owen oore
sing. and wa put up for back taxes of 5553
v
.
DESTRUcnO The four ad , above, th t appeared in t February
are typical . e I crative rental m et in B ton Harbor beIin
It ealty this property t 232 ,which ppear-
of The Citizen hen $2,203.44 " es ere due and ad,
"urn for tenant . eel monthly re for t e four unit in the
builer c 0 to 51,000 per mo tho
o t e been i t
o ner of the property despite t e piece
be' part of a S40,OOO BUD fmanced
code' enforcement pJ'Oll'Ull. BOITO
• RIGHT: The cyel of d ruction'
co leted hen 0 h this 0
on F er ha been milked to the bone,
revert to the teo 1b city is left
more HUD fund to P it on
o and haul it away.
, e don't do any sort of inspec­
tion or things like that," said Hunsber­
ger in phone tnterview. "If the client
lives there nd doesn't want to move,
the or er ju proce p per wor
for it (vendor pay."
Th state legislature never went
beyond expressing wish for adequate
housing Hun berger said, to develop
policy or regulations. 'So the depart­
ment could put an allowance into a grant
for condemned housing,' he noted
LE SUP?
hat happens to the property after
years of neglect and it become the prop;
erty of the ate, who in turn deeds it to
the city?
City. re ident I, Ion tired of the' eye- #
re and hazards, demand demolition.
The city compli using HUD com­
munity development dollar .
illiam Lilly, director of Community
ervice for the city of Benton Harbor,
. d that ince ay, 1983, the city h
nt 210 000 of Small Citie fund..
The city also ha budgeted another
105 000 for demolition activity in the
upcoming months.
Lilly also admit that de pite a
40,000 code enforcement inspection
program flnan ed ith HUD funds, the
city i ued no tickets for code violation •
uch of the property inspected a
th t belonging to Action Rentals in the
Bellvie area.
uch of the ction Rental property
inspected had b en put up for e at the
1983 tax e for nonpayment of taxes.
CrrYT
S 0 ACI10 TO COLLECT
The city till ha legal recour
a in ction Rental on at lea four of
the pi ces of property demo' ed ith
HUD fund. .
comparison of the city'
propertie demolish d with co
I •
ARc.. 7 -1 1.
:y CITIZ
PA TIt
I
L
I
in ay of 1983".
-247 Lake is owned by Die Lane,
was put up for bid in May, 1983 for
2,853 in back taxe .
Gary Hart uff, Director Lands Divi­
sion Department "of atural Resource
in Lansing the man' charge of property
when it revert to the te, told The Citi­
zen that until title p to the s te, the
city ha .legal recourse to recoup emoli­
tion costs ..
, Hart ff said that property that wa
put up for the May 1983 tax sale will
not pa to the state until ay 1, 1984.
"The city could collect its demoli­
tion costs up until ay i, 1984," Hart­
suff id.
And why ha 't the city collected?
"That' a legal matter," y.
, ot w nting t p the bu or y­
thing, but Inspection (dept.) dr up the
list. I'm sure they have referred' to the
legal dep rtment," Lilly said.
"I couldn't tell you, 'm no f
with that," replied city attorney
hite wh n a ed hether or n
knew the city ill had a ce to
cover it co t of demolition on certain
propertie .
Of the 68 propertie 0 11 by
Action Rentals that ent up t the ay
1983 tax Ie mo t are ubstandard
and mo t will be coming before the city
commi 'on for future demoliti n by
the city at taxp yer's expen .
I I
L
Continued from e 1
ces of "disinve ting" him if of the
property to avoid . any c arges of
conflict.
conflict of intere t.
Lilly's Sixth Street property is
located iri the proposed Downtown
D veloprnent area. Ju last month
Lilly and city manager Ellis Mitchell
ignored a DDA committee recommen­
dation and proposed to the city com­
mission a revi d plan for hiring a
DD director.
Lilly said staff recommendations
were n t alw ys what he thought wa
be " but repre nted a "consen u "
of the city ff opinions.
Staff propo d takin funds fiom
orth of ain development to aid in
Downtown Development.
Rex Sheeley operate Super Valu
Store out of city owned building at
151 ain Street.
The former Leath ewland fumi­
.ture ore, the property cam bac to
the city for non-payment of taxe in
1981, the year Sheeley moved in.
o
A
By current and past pr ctices, Lilly's
department has been responsible for
the disposition of city-owned proper­
ty.
-
o' rental agreement between
Sheeley and the city has ever been pre­
sented to the city cornmi . on for
action.
Sheeley as also the owner of at
lea one piec of property demolished
by the city with HUD fund . The
property i at 771 Columbu .
Lilly's department administers the
city's HUD grant .
Lilly said he purchased the 119
Sixth St. property to hou his no
defunct Beefy's.
That ill-fated restaurant was
opened, in St. Jo ph Township in
property Lilly, bought from John Rob­
inson.
John Robinson'is the liscen e for
the Office Lounge, 190 Territorial in
Benton Harbor.
The 190 Territorial' property
carne te-owned June 1, 1983
non-p yme t of taxe .
The Office Lounge was formerly
located in the Hornack Hotel which
was demolished this summer ith
close to 60 000 of HUD funds.
Robinson was a former owner of
the Hornac Hotel.