City assessor Tracy Farrell’s last day on the job is May 28.
Farrell’s been city assessor since May 13, 2016. and said she may be entering a new role as Niagara County director of Real Property Tax Services, pending approval by the county’s legislature, a position previously held by retired director John Shoemaker.
She’s the third department head to have resigned in Mayor John Lombardi III’s administration.
Starting without even a city car to look at properties with, Farrell said she was happy with her accomplishments while with Lockport. She said she was “loyal to the city” and “knew it was in good hands.”
Farrell directed the first reassessment of properties in 10 years within the city back in 2022 and believes she’s put the city in a good position. She also said that because of the groundbreaking evaluation of the city’s total worth, the assessments are now being done annually.
“Any city property will be assessed fairly from now on,” she said.
Not everyone has been as happy as Farrell with her role in that. Many property owners were outraged as they saw their assessed value doubling, sometimes tripling, after a decade of the city not keeping up measurement of fair market values.
Farrell, however, said that while after the initial shock, there are still unhappy property owners, it seems to have died down.
“They seem to understand it more now,” she said.
Farrell also said she is not leaving the city without putting it in order. She said she’d be sticking around right up to the day after Memorial Day setting up the tentative assessment rolls.
Lombardi said he was informed a week ago of the assessor’s resignation and said he was considering replacing Farrell from within city hall.
“If not, we’ll advertise,” he said.
Lombardi also said that of the three posts opened because of resignations in the last four months, one, the financial director’s, has been filled by Daniel Cavallari. As for Steve Pump, the former city engineer, Lombardi said he is still working part-time until that post can be filled.
“I can still get him on the phone,” Lombardi said.