Bill > HB273

This bill provides a comprehensive framework for addressing neighborhood blight and property maintenance in Pennsylvania by establishing two key mechanisms. First, the bill authorizes counties to create and enforce property maintenance codes, allowing them to adopt national standard codes and appoint property maintenance inspectors to conduct inspections and enforce regulations. Counties can impose fines for violations and take legal action to prevent property maintenance issues, but are generally limited to enforcing codes only in municipalities without existing property maintenance ordinances. Second, the bill creates a Municipal Codes Enforcement Grant Program, which will provide competitive grants to municipalities with no current codes enforcement programs to help them establish code enforcement initiatives, hire and train personnel, and reduce blighted property conditions. The bill also establishes a municipal neighborhood mitigation fund, which municipalities can create to collect penalties from code violations and use those funds for property improvements like demolition, cleanup, and repairs. Municipalities will be required to impose escalating penalties for code violations, starting at $25 for a first offense and increasing to up to $1,000 for subsequent violations. The Department of Community and Economic Development will oversee the program, provide annual reports to the legislature, and receive a $10 million appropriation to implement the grant program. The bill will take effect 180 days after its passage.

Budget and Finance, Housing and Urban Affairs

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2025&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=273