Kokomo to get $1.7M more in blight fight

KOKOMO, Ind. (WISH) – Kokomo will receive additional state funding to help remove abandoned and uninhabitable buildings throughout the city.

In its second petition for funding from the state, the city received an additional $1.7 million to help remove the structures. Through Indiana’s Hardest Hit Fund – Blight Elimination Program, Kokomo has received a total of $3,084,000 to aid in its efforts.

“We have been aggressive in the past about addressing unsafe structures in order to make the City of Kokomo’s residential neighborhoods safer and a more attractive,” said Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight. “These funds will enable the city to remove more than 140 abandoned and dilapidated houses that are neighborhood eyesores and driving down property values of nearby homeowners.”

Properties and structures the money will help eliminate must be uninhabitable, beyond repair and not listed on any historic register at the local, state or national level.

The State of Indiana’s Blight Elimination Program is overseen by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. A total of $75 million is being distributed statewide through the program.