Niagara Falls council approves sale of 10 city properties and waives $107,151 in back taxes for developer’s rehab project

The Niagara Falls City Council on June 12 approved selling 10 city‑owned properties to Restore Niagara Falls LLC and waived $107,151 in unpaid taxes and fees on those parcels, council members said. The sale is tied to a state dollar‑for‑dollar reimbursement program the administration said could provide up to $1 million for full rehabilitation of the properties.

The vote matters because the properties have been city‑owned for years, several were on the city’s demolition list and the state program requires a single developer to complete all 10 rehabs before requesting reimbursement, city staff said. That structure, staff and the developer said, is meant to preserve housing stock rather than let the houses be demolished.

City staff told the council the unpaid taxes and fees on the 10 parcels totalled $107,151 and accrued over many years after foreclosure. “In New York, every municipality, the city included, is required to pick up the tax bill when a house that’s been foreclosed upon hasn’t paid their taxes,” the administration said during the meeting, describing how those…