Foreclosures in Newark cost taxpayers $56 million over the last four years, according to a report by the activist group New Jersey Communities United.

The price tag combines the loss of home values on the tax rolls, and the cost of city services like safety inspections, trash removal, and police calls on homes that are sitting abandoned, the report found. 

The group presented its report – Newark Homewrecker – during a Newark City Council hearing today, along with homeowners and more than a dozen community groups who asked council members Ronald C. Rice and Darrin S. Sharif to find creative ways to avoid more foreclosures.