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This house at 257 S. Collingwood Ave. in Eastwood was among 23 properties Syracuse planned to seize in 2013 to sell to the Syracuse land bank unless owners made last-minute arranagements to pay the tax debts.

(Tim Knauss | tknauss@syracuse.com)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Greater Syracuse Land Bank is expected to announce a new program Tuesday that will allow Syracuse police officers, firefighters and school teachers to buy land bank houses in the city for half price as long as they live in them for at least five years.

The land bank's board of directors is expected to approve the new policy during its meeting Tuesday, said Katelyn Wright, executive director. The board's governance committee has already signed off on the idea, she said.

The board of directors will hold its annual meeting at 8 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall Commons, 201 E. Washington St.

Wright said the land bank developed the discount program in response to a suggestion from several city councilors, who bemoaned the fact that many cops, firefighters and teachers live in the suburbs, far from the neighborhoods they serve.

List of properties available from the land bank

Here's how the discounts would work:

Police, firefighters and teachers can buy 1- to 4-family houses from the land bank for half the listing price. The discounted amount will be held as a deferred mortgage against the property, to be forgiven after five years of occupancy.

For now, the program is open only to the designated professions. Teaching assistants, for example, are not eligible. Wright said the land bank may extend the program to more employees in the future, after assessing how the discounts affect the land bank's finances.

Formed in 2012, the nonprofit land bank has taken title to more than 400 properties seized for back taxes by the city of Syracuse, many of which are in need of significant renovations.

The city, which has benefited from increased tax collections since the land bank was formed, provides $1.5 million a year to help pay for land bank operations. Eventually, officials hope the land bank can sustain itself through property sales.

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