Since Hull sent that first tax bill last year, Waller has been involved in a lawsuit with the city to prove the lighthouse is not part of Hull. The matter is currently before the regional court.
However, this did not prevent the tax collector from sending the notification of the “date of collection”.
The April 22 letter Waller received said there was $ 3,461 in outstanding taxes to be paid by May 10, otherwise the city would take further action.
“Outstanding taxes due on all accounts for fiscal 2020 will be published in the Hull / Nantasket Times on May 13, 2021,” the letter said. “A ‘date of ingestion’ will be posted, followed by the record of an ‘instrument of ingestion’ in the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds.”
James B. Lampke, Councilor of Hull, has defended the city’s claim that the lighthouse is part of Hull. He said there were no plans to raise taxes despite what the letter said.
“Taxes on the property have been set in accordance with the law and certain notices need to be sent from time to time. … There are currently no taxes, “said Lampke in a telephone interview.” There is no tax collection and I do not expect any tax collection. “
Lampke has also argued that the lighthouse should also be subject to Hull building regulations and would require permits and inspections of the work that has been done to date. In September, Hull asked the court to issue an injunction against Waller to stop renovating the lighthouse or pay the city a $ 25,000 fine for each day.
Waller, who teamed up with philanthropist Bobby Sager to preserve Graves Light, has carefully restored the interior of the lighthouse for years and made it a livable home.
As Waller sees it, the city’s actions look like “a very costly and meaningless attempt at land grabbing”.
“It’s weird because [the town is] Graves Ledge is in Suffolk County so I’m not sure how this will work for them, ”Waller said.
From 1903 to 2013, Graves Light was owned by the federal government. When Waller bought it at auction in 2013 for $ 933,888, he received a Coast Guard-commissioned property review that found the property was not within corporate boundaries of a community.
Peter A. Biagetti, a lawyer representing Waller and Sager, said the tax collector’s notice was “premature” at best and “wrong” at worst.
Biagetti said they plan to file a motion for a summary of the judgment in the district court on June 15.
“We feel more secure in our position than ever before,” said Biagetti in a telephone interview. “We look forward to submitting our application.”
Emily Sweeney can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney.