City of Syracuse Board of Assessment Review Hearing - February 17, 2026
City of Syracuse Board of Assessment Review Hearing - February 17, 2026
The Board of Assessment Review (BAR) convened on February 17, 2026, to hear two property assessment grievances. The first involved a commercial property at 2112 Erie Boulevard East that suffered severe water damage from a copper pipe theft, and the second involved multiple parcels associated with Destiny USA, presented by a representative. No public comments or consent calendar items were addressed.
Discussion Items
- 2112 Erie Boulevard East (Petitioners Sabura and Gallagher): The petitioners requested a reduction in assessed value from $570,300 (full market value) to $300,000, citing a robbery in August 2025 where copper pipes were cut, causing prolonged flooding and extensive mold throughout the 20,000-square-foot building. The interior is completely gutted, remediation is ongoing (insurance has paid $1.2 million to date), and the building is unsafe to enter. The petitioners argued the property is now worth only the land value. The board requested current interior photos to verify the condition and asked for them to be submitted by the following Friday (February 21, 2026).
- Destiny USA Parcels (Petitioner Lauren Weber): Ms. Weber presented grievances for over 20 parcels, divided into two groups: vacant industrial parcels (former oil storage sites with environmental contamination) and dedicated parking parcels for Destiny USA. She argued that assessed values far exceed fair market value due to limited use, environmental liabilities, and lack of development potential. For three vacant parcels (478 Solar St., 931 N. Clinton St., and 967 N. Clinton St.) that have been listed for sale, no offers have been received. The board asked for the asking prices of those parcels to compare with assessed values. All parcels are currently in litigation. The board indicated it would continue to hold the current land values steady as determined in prior hearings.
Key Outcomes
- For the Erie Boulevard East property, the board deferred a decision pending receipt of current interior photos, which must be emailed by the next Friday session (February 21, 2026). The city will send a notice of the final determination in early April.
- For the Destiny USA parcels, the board requested additional information (listing prices of the three for-sale parcels) by the next Friday session. The matter remains in litigation, and no immediate changes to assessments were made.
- No formal votes were taken; all items were continued for further review.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. No. No. It's on the other side, so there's two sides. On the piece of paper. Oh, it's got cases. Today's a full day. Okay. Maybe that's why Michelle is. Get started. Do you have any fell out? I mean the 13th. Not gonna mention that, but this is now if that's the worst thing that happens here else. We're in good shape. Okay. Good morning, everyone. It is Friday, February 13th. What do you got for time? It is 9056. 906, a little bit late. Apologize. This is a little uh different setup today because uh the common council chambers was uh uh booked uh by another um party. Uh so we'll do the best we can in here. Um it is being recorded, but it's not uh live uh because there's something uh there's there's a uh something being recorded live in the common council chambers. Uh so with that it'll be able to be viewed at a later date. Uh how quick do they put it up? It'll probably be up uh because of the holiday, it'll either be up Tuesday to Wednesday. Tuesday to Wednesday is it would be the earliest, but because it's such a long video, she said that it could take a day to get it up. Okay, so Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Um everything will be back to normal uh uh next week uh uh with Tuesday's session. Uh okay, so let me uh just do a roll call. My name is Joe Saya. Carl Masterpol. William Apollito. Bill Ryan. Okay, thank you very much. And uh so it looks like uh uh on the sheet we have 2108-22 Erie Boulevard East. Here we have 21 uh 12 Erie Boulevard East, I assume it's the same thing. Yeah, 212 is probably what they go by 200. That one's the legal description in the what we have on the sheet. Yes. All right. That sounds good, and it looks like uh the petitioners here. Yeah. Okay. Do you want to come on up to the do you want them up here? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, everybody's gonna be close to gathering today.
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