In its continuing effort to deal with blight, City Council Monday discussed potential ordinance adjustments that would give the codes department additional leverage with landlords and the owners of vacant buildings. Those possible revisions would require repeat offenders including those who live out of town to appear in person to deal with ongoing […]
City Council Monday came to a consensus on hiring an executive director for the Redevelopment Authority/Land Bank, a post that hasn’t existed for a couple of generations. Council reached that informal consensus after a presentation by consultant Winnie Branton on eminent domain and conservatorship, tools the RA/LB could use to help get problem properties rehabilitated […]
City Council Monday adopted a budget for next year that calls for a half-mill tax hike, increasing the bill for a property assessed at $100,000 by $50 for a total of $563 in city real estate tax. City Manager Omar Strohm initially proposed a budget calling for no tax hike, but it covered a […]
City Council members this week reassured a Fairview resident about their recent intentions for facilitating housing development at Keith athletic field even as they informed her that those intentions are moot, because the city failed in an attempt to buy the tract from the Altoona Area School District. Discussions about the potential for housing […]
Despite a proposed 2024 budget last month calling for no property tax increase, City Council Monday approved a tentative budget that includes a half-mill hike. If council adopts the budget next month, the tentative increase will mean that the owner of a property assessed at $100,000 will pay $50 more next year, for a total […]