Abandoned properties left with unshoveled sidewalks in Albany
ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) - It's the responsibility of building owners in the city of Albany to shovel their sidewalks in the event of snow. So, what about the buildings with absentee owners?
The Department of General Services says it usually get complaint calls about unshoveled areas, and that's when they take matters into their own hands.
"We'll send our crew out immediately," Commissioner Sergio Panunzio said. "We will then send you a bill. We attempt to serve the property owner with a bill."
But what if the property owner isn't around? It's an issue Albany sees in the winter - sharply shoveled sidewalks met with mounds of unattended snow.
"Sometimes you have what they call zombie properties," Panunzio pointed out.
But the absentee landlords of those zombie properties are still to blame.
"A lot of the landlords... aren't easy to find, essentially," said Albany City Treasurer Darius Shahinfar.
Shahinfar takes over where DGS leaves off, billing building owners for the city's shoveling services.
"There's some success every year with responsible landlords and owners who do the right thing and shovel their sidewalks first or pay the bill," Shahinfar said.
But he says in the end, if the bills aren't paid, they're rolled over into the property tax bill - in total, about $30,000 to $40,000 each year.
"And in that process, ultimately probably half to sometimes even more the snow bills eventually get paid," Shahinfar said.
If they don't, that property goes into foreclosure, the bill going into the tax lien for whoever buys it next.
But the workers who bear the burden still get paid.
"It is taxpayer dollars technically that reimburses the municipalities," Shahinfar said.
But, as a taxpayer, you'll likely never know. There's no additional fee, and it's all reimbursed within the county.
"They earn a lot of interest and a lot of penalties on the properties that are delinquent," Shahinfar said. "Which makes the process worthwhile for them from a financial standpoint."