Today in niche drama: The billionaire vs. flocks of Canada geese dumping all over his lawn.
According to SFGate.com, businessman, philanthropist, and founding member of the New York Independence party Tom Golisano is refusing to pay the $90,000 school-tax bill on his upstate New York summer home until town officials find a way to get the scourge of pooping geese under control.
“This past summer it was horrible. We’d drive in and find 100 to 200 geese parked on our lawn,” said Golisano. “You can’t walk barefoot, can’t play Frisbee, can’t have your grandchildren run around. … Here I am paying all this money in taxes and I can’t use my property because of the geese droppings.”
Golisano, whose net worth is estimated at $3.2 billion, says the birds are lowering the property value of his home, and that the local government of South Bristol, NY should hire a “goose control officer.”
If the town does not do something to get the geese off his property, Golisano has said he will seek a reduced property assessment, which could lower his property taxes. None of the geese have commented on either the taxes or the pooping.