LOCKPORT: City, Granchelli, settle series of value suits

Local News

September 4, 2008

Staff Reports The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Thu Sep 04, 2008, 01:55 AM EDT

The City of Lockport recently settled three years of assessment grievances with large landowner Elmer A. Granchelli and it won’t have to refund him any overpaid tax.

Granchelli, Joseph J. Granchelli, Velco Inc. and Centennial Development filed suit three years in a row to force down the assessments placed on 22 properties citywide. The suits challenged the assessment rolls produced for the 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 tax years and sought a $1.3 million reduction in their total assessed value.

The city and Granchelli negotiated an out-of-court settlement knocking back the combined value of the properties $526,000.

Assessor Peter Galarneau said Granchelli agreed to value reductions on 13 of the 22 properties and, significantly, to accept the reduced values on the 2008-09 assessment roll only. Reductions will not be applied to the prior rolls, meaning the city won’t have to agree it overtaxed Granchelli and pay him refunds.

“This will save a considerable amount of money for the city, the county and the school district,” Galarneau said.

Terms of the settlement call for the city to freeze the value of all 22 properties at their 2008-09 assessment levels, unless Granchelli makes physical changes such as addition or demolition, or adds tenancies at commercial properties. In those cases, revaluation would be called for, and Granchelli would be free to challenge the adjusted numbers.

The covered properties are a blend of commercial, residential and vacant lots. Granchelli secured a $125,000 reduction on the value of his home 1 Sargent Drive, to $425,000, and reduced values for nine downtown commercial properties.

The largest cut, $100,000, was awarded to 50 East Ave., which is anchored by a Rite-Aid store. That property is now assessed at $475,000.

The parcel at 225 Walnut St., which once held Subdelicious, got a $65,000 value reduction and is now assessed at $100,000.

The F&M; building, 116 Main St., got a $25,000 reduction and is now assessed at $50,000.

Galarneau said Granchelli succeeded in arguing some value reductions were warranted on the basis of vacancy rates or physical deterioration. The F&M; building, a high-rise office building, is said to have top-to-bottom damage inside, after water leaked through a roof opening, he said. Another building needs its air conditioning fully replaced.

“There are some problems to be solved before (Granchelli) can fully utilize the buildings,” Galarneau said.

With the settlement, the combined value of the 22 properties is $2,487,100.

The city hired special counsel, Michael J. Hughes of Buffalo, to hash out the settlement because of the size of the suits, Galarneau said.

The settlement was granted Aug. 20 by Niagara County Supreme Court Justice Ralph A. Boniello III.

Text Only

Local News

Reform agenda touted
Empire State Development Corporation executive Sam Hoyt visited Lockport on Wednesday to tout Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state budget and government reform plans.
Changing the way the state does business will bring fiscal relief to counties, cities and towns, eventually, Hoyt suggested.
It’s too bad the reforms won’t kick in before municipalities like the City of Lockport begin confronting fiscal crises, Mayor Michael Tucker said in response.

February 9, 2012 2 Photos
Tucker: 'Best days lie ahead'
The City of Lockport government is smaller than it was 18 months ago but is in a stronger financial place, Mayor Michael W. Tucker said in his annual State of the City address.

February 8, 2012 1 Photo
Trio of new classes proposed for Newfane
Newfane High School could have three new business courses in the fall, one of which would center on video game design.

February 8, 2012
Municipalities take wait-and-see approach on SPCA funding
The City and Town of Lockport are each withholding payments to the Niagara SPCA, while other Eastern Niagara County towns are taking a wait-and-see approach.

February 7, 2012 1 Photo 2 Stories
Rocky II
Friends of Deputy Craig Beiter of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department plan a benefit on Feb. 26 to raise money to buy and train a new dog for the K-9 Unit.
Beiter’s German shepherd, Deputy Rocky, was killed while on duty in December, and the sheriff’s department is close to getting a replacement.

February 6, 2012 1 Photo 2 Stories
Basket Factory closes
The Basket Factory has gone out of business.
The owners, Julie Thompson Riegle and Dawn Thompson, made the difficult decision last Monday and put the sign on the door Tuesday.

February 6, 2012
No snow is no problem
Unseasonably warm weather didn’t keep Roy-Hart Winterfest from being a fun day for the families who came out to Roy-Hart Elementary School on Saturday.
More than 500 people attended the third annual festivities, which Gasport Lions Club officials said was a big increase from last year. The halls of Roy-Hart Elementary were filled with vendors, programs and movement as excited children rushed from one activity to another.

February 6, 2012
Shovel-ready park has perks
At first glance, the big, orange road sign announcing vacant property on Lockport Road as a “shovel ready certified” building site seems a bit gratuitous.
To companies looking for new places to launch a business, it’s not. The sign in their eyes is a welcome mat, for in three words a community pronounced itself ready, willing and able to make a deal quickly.

February 3, 2012 1 Photo
Roy-Hart to play the big stage
A group of local students will be performing this month at Kleinhans Music Hall just before a BPO concert.
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra will welcome the Royalton-Hartland High School Mixed Chorus as part of the BPO’s Community Spotlight program on Feb. 19 at Kleinhans in Buffalo. The chorus will perform under the direction of Carolyn Unitas Roos and accompanied by Janice McKinney.

February 3, 2012
Former NFTA cop sentenced
A former Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority police officer will spend six years on probation for sending a sexually explicit photo to a teenage girl, a girl he later had a sexual encounter with.
In addition, John W. Ingham will spend 25 weekends in the service of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office Work Program. Ingham was sentenced Thursday by State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch, Sr. Ingham will also register as a sex offender.

February 3, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

LOCKPORT: City, Granchelli, settle series of value suits

Site Map

Contact Us