St. Clair was recently awarded a $500,000 state grant designed to help senior citizens make renovations to their homes.
A statement from State Sen. Dave Argall (R-29) says this highly-competitive grant can help reduce blight.
“Blight affects us all – it lowers our property values, it strains the real estate market, it hurts our schools, it breeds crime, and it poses a serious threat to our safety and well-being,” Argall says in that statement.
St. Clair provides funding to seniors and low-income residents to make repairs to the homes. However, the borough’s program has a waiting list and the $500,000 can address that shortfall.
Mayor Richard Tomko says, “This program is very beneficial to low-income seniors, allowing them to stay in their homes longer.”
Money for the grant comes from the HOME Investment Partnership Program, which is aimed at providing money to residents to preserve the supply of “decent and affordable housing” for low-income residents.
Argall encourages other municipalities in Schuylkill County to implement a similar program.
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Coalregion12
April 16, 2024 at 10:05 pm
Only problem is their property taxes will go up as well due to the home improvements.
The state should put an amendment that their property taxes shall not be increased due to this grant money.
Canary Commenter
April 17, 2024 at 3:12 pm
Luckily, they don’t have to worry about that because those folks in Harrisburg are going to end property ta-ahahahaha … remember when those folks got elected by saying they were going to eliminate property taxes? Yet, they’re still there and our property tax bills just keep going up and government keeps getting bigger.