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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2011 > January > 03 > Entry
Editorial: Kettering’s approach shows promise
As everyone knows, the foreclosure crisis and the implosion of the housing market hit Ohio and the Dayton area hard, depressing property values that homeowners in some communities had come to expect would always grow briskly.
The biggest of the area’s problems are in Dayton itself, where foreclosures and other housing problems long predated the national economy’s 2008 decline. So many homes in the city have been foreclosed on that the nature of some neighborhoods has changed, causing some rethinking about their basic identities.
And some think the crisis hasn’t hit bottom yet.
Outside the city limits, close-in, low-income suburbs have also felt a lot of foreclosure pain. Trotwood is a commonly cited example. It’s actually No. 1 for the decline in property values in 2010.
Foreclosures are so numerous that the school district’s collection rate on property taxes has crashed by more than 10 percentage points in three years.
Kettering is an interesting case.
It showed up on the list of communities with the biggest drops in property values. City Manager Mark Schwieterman was surprised enough that he ordered a review of what caused the drop.
Preliminary findings show home values have actually remained stable lately, down just 0.1 percent in 2010. In many circumstance, a lack of growth in home values would be cause for alarm, but in this region and in this economy, Mr. Schwieterman thinks it’s actually a good sign.
So why the big drop in property values if Kettering homes are mostly holding steady? Mr. Schwieterman said it appears three large commercial properties had an outsized impact on the city.
While Kettering is still waiting for details as to which properties dropped and why, city hall does know some specifics:
— One of the three appealed its tax bill based on the assessed value of the facility and won.
— In another case, the value of the property was lowered as a result of a sale. When properties sell in down markets, the lower selling price can re-set the value.
— In the last case, there were major changes to the facility. Mr. Schwieterman said he hasn’t yet learned what the facility is. One possibility is the former Delphi plant, which saw portions of the property razed following its sale.
The good news is that these sorts of changes are fairly routine. Property values are reassessed in these ways from time to time, and there is not necessarily any direct connection to the economy or the market for commercial or residential properties.
As for individual homes, Kettering has been aggressive in responding to the foreclosure phenomenon. In October, the city was awarded a second federal stimulus grant (together the two amounted to $1.5 million) to help with its strategic effort to purchase foreclosed homes.
With the first grant in 2008, the city bought 21 foreclosed houses. Four were rehabilitated and resold. Five were demolished and replaced with newly constructed homes. Another 11 were resold using down-payment assistance, sometimes in conjunction with rehabilitation.
In Kettering, as in many cities, neighbors begin to notice foreclosures when families move and houses sit vacant. Getting those homes occupied takes time.
The city’s goal is to accelerate the process, particularly for homes that could become problem properties and negatively affect the neighborhood. It’s a strategy that appears to be doing some good.
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