Kingston City Land Bank Helps Two Families Own Their Own Homes

The KCLB was founded in 2018 with support from the city as part of an effort by Mayor Steve Noble to move more Kingston families from rental housing to their own homes. Noble has said that affordable home ownership programs like the KCLB help stabilize neighborhoods while giving moderate-income families an opportunity to generate wealth. On Friday, Noble praised the land bank’s efforts on the two lots which are around the corner from each other as well as a pending effort to build affordable multi-unit cooperative housing on a vacant lot adjacent to 52 Grand St…

The KCLB has renovated and returned to the tax rolls and sold 15 vacant homes held by the city for back taxes and acquired under a disposition policy that requires the nonprofit to pay off all back taxes on a property. After an initial effort funded by the NoVo in Kingston foundation renovated nine properties, the KCLB began work on acquiring and rehabbing another six as part of the “keystone” program funded through the city’s American Rescue Plan Act award and the state Division of Homes and Community Renewal.

Friday’s ribbon-cutting marked the completion of the keystone program and the final disposition of the last six properties in the KCLB inventory. But a 2023 Supreme Court ruling could complicate further efforts. The ruling, Tyler vs. Hennepin County, ruled that municipalities like Kingston may take properties for nonpayment of taxes, but if the property is subsequently sold, any profits in excess of the back taxes must be returned to the original owner.

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