Grand Island reassessment: Grievance Day is last resort

May 28 is deadline for challenges

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

Reassessment was still the sore point with six Island residents who spoke at the start of Monday’s Town Board meeting. They said they wanted the reassessment stopped. But they learned there was no turning back.

“We’re past the time when we can shelve the assessment. That happened May 1,” Council member Dan Kilmer told them.

“So, come to Grievance Day. Do what you’ve got to do,” he said. “It’s already been filed with the state. We’re in a fend-for-yourself mode.”

Grievance Day is Tuesday, May 28; it’s the last chance for property owners – residential and commercial – to challenge their assessments if they believe they are incorrect. The town’s five-member Board of Assessment Review makes the final determination as to whether adjustments are warranted.

There have been at least $17 million in reassessment corrections made so far in response to informal requests by Island property owners.

To file a formal written complaint on or before Grievance Day, complete form RP-524, which is available from the town assessor’s office or online at www.tax.ny.gov.

Kilmer has been investigating potential errors in the 2025 project that is tasked with assigning full market value to Grand Island’s commercial and residential property. The reassessment contractor is Emminger, Newton, Pigeon and Magyar (ENPM) of Tonawanda.

Kilmer is now zeroing in on potential anomalies in commercial reassessment. He and former council member Mike Madigan have identified approximately 38 commercial properties whose assessments appear to be incorrect, according to their research. They also say that, through the reassessment process, $700,000-plus in tax burden has been shifted from commercial to residential property owners.

Kilmer made a motion to have those 38 non-resident commercial properties – that he and Madigan flagged as questionable – be investigated by either an alternate assessment firm and/or by Town Assessor Jill Murphy. Kilmer wanted an expert’s answer to their questions.

Council member Jose Garcia seconded Kilmer’s motion, and, after discussion, the board unanimously approved the measure.

Kilmer had moved to halt the 2025 reassessment in a Town Board workshop meeting on April 28, but his motion failed by a 4-1 vote. The meeting was set up on an emergency basis to get a decision from the board in time to meet the May 1 deadline for completion of the tentative assessment roll.

During the discussion before Monday’s vote, Supervisor Peter Marston highlighted the growth in Island properties in the period since the 2021 reassessment.

“As a whole, commercial has gone up in our town.” Marston said. “From 2021 to 2025, we added to the assessment $133 million worth of commercial value; but I will also say that, as far as the residential goes, it went up pretty crazy. So, new homes, we built $104 million worth of new homes, and the difference in the assessment is pretty crazy.”

Marston agreed with Kilmer that some of the commercial property assessments didn’t make sense: “So, I’m happy to at least hear an explanation on all of them.”

Marston said the town’s total commercial value went up from $227,614,000 in 2021 to $360,764,000 in 2025.

“So, the numbers went up pretty substantially,” he said. “Really, commercial-wise, all we built was a Starbucks and a Taco Bell.”

At the close of the meeting, Garcia explained that he voted against suspending the reassessment by ENPM because he thought it was too late in the process to throw out the work already done and start all over.

“I would never have voted for assessment to begin with. Philosophically, I disagree with it,” he said. “It is already wound all the way up. So to unwind it, I felt there would be more downstream issues for our town than there would be benefits.”

In other action, the Town Board:

•Authorized Marston to sign a contract with Erienet Fiber to provide dark fiber that will connect all municipal buildings through a secure and centralized network. The funding will come from New York state and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The project will reduce internet service costs by allowing the town to operate with a single connection for all municipal buildings, rather than maintaining individual services at each location. Expected benefits are improved network security and reliability. The installation of municipal fiber infrastructure also is expected to attract private providers to expand residential fiber service across the Island.

There is a one-time construction fee of $32,600 and a recurring monthly service cost of $340 for a 20-year term.

•Authorized Marston to sign a professional services agreement with Glynn Group Engineering & Architecture PLLC for the planned Miracle League splash pad. The proposed cost is $2,700. The funding for the project will come from grant monies. The firm is to provide geotechnical engineering services relative to the proposed construction of a 5,000-square-foot splash pad at Veterans Park. The proposed pad is to be located over a former ice rink that has been filled over with soil.

•Approved the installation of additional lighting on the east side of South State Parkway at Broadway, on the advice of the town’s Traffic Safety Advisory Board. This will be a town-owned light.

•Approved a special use permit for Soma Cura Wellness Center to use open space in Town Commons and the Nike Base for free outdoor yoga classes open to all levels from beginner to advanced students. The classes will run from May through September of this year. The days and times will vary depending on weather. This will be the sixth year Soma Cura has offered free classes in the Town Commons for Island residents.

The Town Board issued a proclamation on Monday in honor of Older Americans Month. From left, front row: Golden Age members Anna Vaccaro, Bob Vaccaro, Martha Marrinan, Joy Mesmer and Pam Haupt; second row, from left: council members Christian Bahleda and Tom Digati, Supervisor Peter Marston, and council members Jose Garcia and Dan Kilmer. This year’s theme for Older Americans Month is “Flip the Script on Aging.” Grand Island has 9,246 residents aged 50 and older. The proclamation states “our community provides opportunities to enrich the lives of individuals young and old, especially by the Golden Age Club of Grand Island, which was established in 1959 for any resident age 50 or older.” The Town Board extended its congratulations and thanks to the Grand Island Golden Age Club for its many years of service, and urged people to recognize older adults and the people who serve and celebrate them as strong, inspirational individuals who contribute greatly to our community.