Niagara Falls council waives city taxes so nonprofit Norlick can take eight city parcels

Niagara Falls City Council voted 4-1 on Jan. 22 to waive unpaid city property taxes on eight city-owned parcels and authorize the mayor to execute documents transferring the properties to Norlick, a not-for-profit organization, the council said.

Council members approved the waiver after the acting corporation counsel told the council Norlick had only recently learned the parcels carried unpaid city, school and county taxes and said it would not proceed with the transfer unless the city forgave its portion of the indebtedness. The motion referenced a mayor’s recommendation memo dated Jan. 15, 2025.

The ordinance's supporters said the nonprofit will rehabilitate idle properties and place them back on the tax rolls when sold to qualifying buyers. “Norlick realized that there were a host of unpaid taxes, city, school, and county. And that's when they approached us and said, we can't go forward with this deal, if we're going to be assuming these tax burdens…