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---
title: Ex-NHL Owner Refuses To Pay Taxes Over Goose Droppings
description: Tom Golisano is refusing to pay the $90,000 he owes until local officials deal with the problem
canonical: https://time.com/5135087/nhl-tom-golisano-goose-poo/
author: Flora Carr
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article:published_time: 2018-02-06T14:01:54.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:09:47.686Z
article:section: Sports
og:title: Ex-NHL Owner Refuses To Pay Taxes Over Goose Droppings
og:description: Tom Golisano is refusing to pay the $90,000 he owes until local officials deal with the problem
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og:image:alt: Sabers introduce Golisano as new owner
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twitter:title: Ex-NHL Owner Refuses To Pay Taxes Over Goose Droppings
twitter:description: Tom Golisano is refusing to pay the $90,000 he owes until local officials deal with the problem
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# Ex-NHL Owner Refuses to Pay Taxes Over Goose Droppings on His Lawn

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### Disclaimers

* Ally Bank, Member FDIC.
* Round up boosters are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account and requires an Ally Bank Spending Account.
* Ally Bank Spending Accounts include access to an add cash feature utilizing VanillaDirect Pay provided by InComm Financial Services California, Inc. and by InComm Financial Services, Inc. (NMLS# 912772), which is licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Terms and conditions apply.
* Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account.
* No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle.
* Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner.
* Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.

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by 

[Flora Carr](https://time.com/author/flora-carr/)


## Flora Carr


Feb 6, 2018 2:01 PM UTC

![Sabers introduce Golisano as new owner](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4be9174ffe2d0b62/6988fab222fb858092e249fc/gettyimages-1947483.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

New Buffalo Sabers owner, B. Thomas Golisano speaks during a press conference April 23, 2003 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY. Golisano officially took control of the Buffalo Sabers after finalizing the purchase of the team for $92 million.

New Buffalo Sabers owner, B. Thomas Golisano speaks during a press conference April 23, 2003 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY. Golisano officially took control of the Buffalo Sabers after finalizing the purchase of the team for $92 million.Harry Scull Jr.—Getty Images

by 

[Flora Carr](https://time.com/author/flora-carr/)


## Flora Carr


Feb 6, 2018 2:01 PM UTC

An ex-NHL owner is in a rather sticky situation.

Tom Golisano, a billionaire and former owner of the [Buffalo Sabres,](http://time.com/5084226/team-usa-hockey-teams-2018-olympics/) is refusing to pay his local taxes, after taking a stand over the amount of goose poo left on the lawn of his upstate New York property.

Golisano, 76, is refusing to pay the $90,000 he owes until local officials deal with the problem at his summer home on Canandaigua Lake, South Bristol.

“This past summer it was horrible. We’d drive in and find 100 to 200 geese parked on our lawn,” the tycoon told the Associated Press.

“You can’t walk barefoot, can’t play Frisbee, can’t have your grandchildren run around,” he added. “Here I am paying all this money in taxes and I can’t use my property because of the geese droppings.”

The town supervisor, Daniel Marshall, disagrees with Golisano. He told the AP that the goose droppings were “a resident’s problem to take care of, not the town’s.”

“It is a lake, after all,” he added.

Golisano, founder of the payroll firm Paychex, has a net worth of $3.4 billion. He previously launched a legal battle over the property taxes on a home he owns in Mendon, near Rochester, N.Y., reducing them in 2010 from $200,000 to $60,000.

Ex-NHL Owner Refuses To Pay Taxes Over Goose Droppings

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