Word trickled out to city of Sullivan and Sullivan County officials of being awarded $1.914 million from Indiana’s Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program around noon Thursday.
Just before 5 p.m., Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann’s office made it official. The county had indeed received approval and will be assisted in preventing avoidable foreclosures by eliminating blighted and abandoned homes through the program.
One eyepopping aspect in the award process was Sullivan County being awarded over half what the other eight successful county applicants from Division Six — which included the state’s 30 smallest counties — received.
“I can’t think of too many awards in the history of Sullivan County that have been this big,” Sullivan City Building Commissioner, county councilman and grant facilitator Brian Pound said.
The city of Sullivan will receive approximately $1.1 million, while the balance is earmarked for county towns such as Carlisle, Hymera, Dugger and Merom.
“We are extremely happy and satisfied … found out our government does work,” Pound stated. “All we hear is how we have a broken government, and this is a prime example that national, state and local governments can get together and work on projects that absolutely need done.
“When Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann was here last summer, she asked us what she could help with,” he continued. “I told her that I wanted help with abandoned housing. Indiana is No. 1 in the nation in abandoned houses, and Sullivan County sure has its fair share.”
The nearly $2 million awarded translates into the removal of approximately 87 houses in the county. Qualifying properties would be funded at $25,000 for a parcel with a basement, $15,000 without a basement.
Pound showed two emails he received earlier in the day from a person with close knowledge of the Indiana Department of Community Housing Authority, stating they had a board meeting Thursday morning. The second email said “Congratulations. You’ve got your money. You’re good to go.”
“This is a game-changer,” Sullivan Mayor Clint Lamb said. “These are things we’ve been talking about since day one when we took office in 2012. The No. 1 issue that faces the city of Sullivan, and I think a lot of communities, is the decline in assessed valuation. That’s what funds your police, that’s what funds your fire, part of that money blacktops streets.”
Lamb, noting the city’s assessed valuation has dropped about $26 million since 2007, says this is “just the beginning.”
“If we tear down these lots and we have empty grass fields, that doesn’t do anything to your city’s assessed value,” he noted. “Sure, it makes your neighborhoods cleaner and it makes people happy. But the bottom line is making sure we partner with the right developers and private investors to come here to the city of Sullivan. They now have an incentive. They’re going to have a lot of open spaces here to come down and build new homes.”
In December, Sullivan was one of a handful of communities hosting a contingent of IHCDA officials and elected representatives who discussed the program. Mark Neyland, IHCDA Director of Asset Preservation and manages Indiana’s Hardest Hit Fund Program, attended the forum at Sullivan City Park.
“We’re excited about the neighborhood-enhancing projects scheduled to take place around the state,” Neyland said in the press release. “This program will assist scores of Indiana communities in their efforts to prevent avoidable foreclosures and keep property values stable for many years to come.”
Pound and Lamb were pleased the BEP program also included the smaller counties in the state, like Sullivan County.
“A 100 or 500 homes in Indianapolis, sure, that’s great,” Lamb said. “But that does not make near the impact that 30, or 40, or 50 homes in the city of Sullivan will do.”
Both recognized the assistance of both the Sullivan City and County Redevelopment commissions involved in the process, including individuals such as James Exline, Deann Talley, Angela Bullock, Janie Nation, Larry Cox, Suzan Ridgway, Larry Bedwell, Kermit King, Carla Johnson and Jill Street.
Nearby successful applicants also announced on Thursday included Gibson County ($1.44 million), Greene County ($945,000), Washington ($459,000), Bicknell ($415,000), Vincennes ($390,000) and Brazil ($215,000).
The BEP funds are drawn from the $221.7 million in Hardest Hit Funds allocated to Indiana. In February 2014, the U.S. Department of the Treasury approved the use of $75 million by the IHCDA for successful BEP applicants.
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