Buffalo complaining about New York asbestos fees
According to a recent opinion piece in the Buffalo News, needed demolition projects in the City of Buffalo are being stymied by unreasonably high state fees. The State of New York charges a $1000 fee for every asbestos notification. Buffalo city officials have begun to complain: the fees don’t pay for any valuable service and the high amount of the fee substantially limits the number of abandoned buildings that the city can have demolished. But since they have started voicing these complaints, city officials have noted state employees becoming more “difficult” to work with.
The City has at least one well-positioned supporter in Democratic Senator William T. Stachowski. Stachowski says he intends to introduce legislation that waives or reduces the asbestos notification fee for Buffalo’s demolition projects.
Buffalo has 7,000 buildings that are awaiting demolition. Without relief from the current fees, it would cost the city an extra $7 million to tear down these empty and often dangerous buildings.
For more on this story, go to the Opinion Page of the Buffalo News.
