HARRISBURG – Friday Pennsylvania announced new funding to help eliminate blight in municipalities across Northumberland County. The Housing Authority of Northumberland County has been awarded a $750,000 grant to support the county’s “Flight the Blight” initiative. Lawmakers say the county will acquire and demolish 60 blighted and abandoned properties that will be redeveloped for commercial and housing purposes. The housing authority will also rehabilitate ten additional blighted structures to be sold to modest-income homebuyers.
State Representative Lynda Schelgel Culver (R-108th, Sunbury) says this funding will help bring the community together, “This is phenomenal for the county of Northumberland. I think it’s a great way to continue to bring our communities together and it’s a great example of how our local municipalities, the county, the housing authority, and your state officials have been able to work together.”
State Senator John Gordner (R-27th, Berwick) explains all the different ways the money can be used, “This money can be used for a variety of different purposes. It can be used for acquisition, it can be used for demolition, it can be used for renewable, it can be used for redevelopment. And the last word is the key word because not only do you want to try to get rid of the blighted property, and it’s also probably not producing any tax revenue for the municipality or the county.”
The project is expected to bring economic growth through enhanced property values, a stronger local tax base, and increased commercial and residential development.
