The Blight Prevention Initiative: A New Approach to Vacant Property Management (2008 LGAA)

City of Binghamton (Winner)
County: Broome County
Population: 10,001 to 50,000
City Hall: (607) 343-3670

Like many other Upstate municipalities, the City of Binghamton faced increasingly troublesome neighborhood blight. More than 200 vacant properties plagued the City, undermining market values, draining local resources, stunting economic development, and compromising neighborhood safety. A creative intervention, called The Blight Prevention Initiative, was announced during the Mayor's 2007 State of City Address.

This initiative included three components:

Legal: Develop and pass a new vacant property registration ordinance requiring owners of vacant properties to register the property and submit a maintenance plan. Enforcement: Dedicate funds for a new Vacant Property Officer to ensure consistent and aggressive enforcement.Organization reform: Incorporating the Code Enforcement, which was currently under the Fire Marshall's Supervision, into the Building and Construction Bureau to improve coordination between the two offices that deal directly with vacant properties, construction and code issues.

This Initiative has improved government efficiency in this municipality. The new vacant property ordinance forces vacant property owners to maintain their properties, which in turn reduces code violations. Also, having a dedicated vacant property officer allows the remaining seven code officers to focus on quality of life violations in the City of Binghamton's neighborhoods. The consolidation of the Code Enforcement Office and the Building and Construction Bureau has greatly improved the cooperation and communication between the different officers, which has significantly improved the precision with which the City handles code enforcement.