WARREN — The Trumbull County Land Bank board on Tuesday voted to support a letter-writing campaign to block a series of legislative actions that could reduce funding to programs that assist lower and moderate income families.

“Proposed cuts being made will impact the land banks, counties, townships and cities,” Julie Green, a member of the land bank board and director of the Trumbull County Planning Commission, said. “They are talking about a lot of the programs we use as community development partners to rehabilitate homes.”

Matt Martin, director of Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership, said one of the programs at risk of losing federal dollars through proposed cuts is the HOME program, which often is used to rehabilitate properties.

These funds often are used to bridge the gap in dollars needed to cover the cost of rehabilitation of homes and the sale of the properties.

The last eight properties rehabilitated used an average of $31,000 in HOME funds, according to Martin. On average, there are four properties renovated per year.

“The average sale price of the properties was $112,000,” Martin said. “One of the things these properties have in common is they are too nice for demolition.”

Green is worried there are some legislators who are interested in clawing back grant funds that already have been approved.

“These are all major concerns that should be discussed,” she said.

She noted that Warren city leaders and Trumbull County commissioners have submitted letters opposing these cuts for next year.

“These cuts are doing nothing to help any of us,” said Trumbull County Treasurer Sam Lamacusa, executive director of the Trumbull County Land Bank.

REEVES BUILDING DEMO

In other business at the land bank meeting, Martin said the ongoing demolition of the Reeves Building, 295 W. Market Street, is an example of the work being done to push for improvement of commercial and residential sites around the county.

The demolition of the historic Reeves Building is being done, in part, with funding from a $6.3 million grant awarded to Trumbull County in September to knock down 168 properties in Trumbull County. Of the total properties targeted for demolition, 34 are in Warren.

The funding is from the Ohio Department of Development Building Demolition and Site Revitalization program. ProQuality Demolition won a $522,000 bid to demolish the building.

TREE PLANTINGS

Martin also highlighted a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant being used by TNP for the restoration of the tree canopy in urban locations in Warren as well as other areas throughout Trumbull and Mahoning counties.

The $5 million federal grant obtained by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation was part of the Inflation Reduction Act. TNP is a partner organization.

The goal is to plant 5,000 trees, with 1,250 planned in Warren.

Mahoning Valley TreeCorps started last year and is promoting the placement of trees in low to moderate income neighborhoods. It also will remove dying and dead trees from eligible properties.

TNP’s Lydia Lynch said that over the last year, there have been 266 trees planted in Trumbull County through this program, including 76 in parks, 82 on Trumbull County Land Recycling Center lots and eight on tree lawns.

Property owners in Warren interested in participating in the program should call TNP.