Fear Of Footing Bill For Tear-Down, Potential Environmental Cleanup Costs Causes County To Can 'Back Tax' Foreclosure Sale, Cancel Lien

In Genesee County, New York, The Batavian reports:

• The owner of the former Wiss Hotel at 80 Main St., Le Roy, will get to keep the property, despite owing thousands of dollars in back taxes. The property was headed for the county's March foreclosure auction, but the Genesee County Legislature cast a unanimous vote Wednesday night saying essentially, "we don't want it."

• The building, owned by New Jersey resident Emily Pangrazio, is in such a state of disrepair, county officials said, the only thing to do with it is tear it down, which would cost more than $100,000. The county could not take title without take responsibility for the building's disrepair, even just to auction it off later.

• There's also concern that a former gas station next door could have leached contaminants onto the property, creating a potentially costly clean up requirement. If the county became part of the chain of title for even one day, county taxpayers could wind up footing the bill for any environmental impacts.

• By voting to cancel the tax lien, the property -- with numerous alleged code violations -- becomes an issue for the owner and the Village of Le Roy to deal with. Several people have noted that a couple of weeks ago, crews were inside the former hotel removing fixtures and other items, basically stripping the building of salvageable items, according to witnesses.

Source: County decides not to take on risk of foreclosing on a property in Le Roy.