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Thread: Lackawanna's Back in Court

  1. #1
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    Lackawanna's Back in Court

    According to the newspaper article in today's Buffalo News, Lackawanna once again hired the law firm of Hodgson Russ (this time paying $20,000 on "it's most recent" litigation) to go after the Erie County Industrial Development Agency for "back taxes." The original case began in September 2010, a year ago when the City of Lackawanna presented ECIDA with a foreclosure notice (property is assessed at $1.14 million which includes a 40,000-square-foot facility along the Lackawanna Canal).

    In the article, it was noted that the City of Lackawanna had won a similar case when they went after a LCDC property located at 100 Ridge Road for leasing to Now-Tech Industries. Now-Tech was a for-profit company leasing from the not-for-profit LCDC, therefore the City of Lackawanna claimed it wasn't tax exempt. The City "won" and as a result Now-Tech Industries moved out of the city.

    Now the battle is over the Erie County Industrial Development Agency's Port Terminal. Mayor Polanski was quoted as saying that he is not interested in having the City take over ownership of the property. "Somebody's making a profit," Polanski said, "and nobody's paying a dime to the city, the school district, or the county."
    (This comes from the same City that elbowed the same school district out of PILOT money from the windmills).

    So, folks...the City has been happily coughing up money to Hodgson Russ since September 2010 to fight this "non-profit, quasi-governmental entity," over what it claims is $500,000 in owed taxes...at the same time spending over $800,000 of general funds for the Martin Road Subdivision Project...at the same time spending ???? for outside counsel to straighten out the mess the City Council created over Ridge Road city-owned property sale...at the same time taxes yet another business (Now-Tech Industries) out of the City. All the while, having to take out a $5 million bond to pay for street and firehall repairs.

    Do you see a pattern here? Seriously, why do we even bother to have a City Attorney on the payroll????

  2. #2
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    Aug 2011
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    Friends and Family Club? Padding for the pensions?

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