New York Telephone Co. v. Supervisor of Town of North Hempstead

77 A.D.3d 121, 908 N.Y.S.2d 401
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedAugust 3, 2010
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 77 A.D.3d 121 (New York Telephone Co. v. Supervisor of Town of North Hempstead) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
New York Telephone Co. v. Supervisor of Town of North Hempstead, 77 A.D.3d 121, 908 N.Y.S.2d 401 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Rivera, J.P.

On the instant appeal, we consider whether Nassau County Administrative Code § 6-26.0 (b) (3) (c) (L 1939, chs 272, 701-709, as amended), known as the “County Guaranty,” requires the County of Nassau, the Assessor of the County of Nassau (hereinafter the Assessor), and the Nassau County Board of Assessors (hereinafter the BOA), rather than the Town of North Hempstead and several special districts located in the Town, to refund certain special ad valorem levies judicially determined to be in validly imposed upon the plaintiffs real property. The “County Guaranty” is a special law that expressly survives sev[123]*123eral amendments to the Real Property Tax Law where erroneous tax assessments have been made. We conclude that the “County Guaranty” applies to the judicially directed refunds of the subject levies. Accordingly, we reverse the order appealed from, and grant the motion of the Town and the special districts for summary judgment on the first cause of action in the third-party complaint seeking indemnification from, among others, the County, the Assessor, and the BOA.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

A. The Five Initial Actions

Verizon New York, Inc. (hereinafter Verizon), formerly known as New York Telephone Company, owns “mass property” within the Town of North Hempstead. This “mass property” is comprised of, inter alia, telephone lines, wires, cables, poles, and supports and enclosures for electrical conductors. The named defendants include the Town, as well as special garbage districts within the Town (hereinafter collectively the Town).

In 1998 Verizon commenced the instant action against the Town challenging the imposition of special ad valorem levies relating to garbage and refuse collection services for its mass property. Specifically, Verizon alleged that the imposition of special ad valorem levies for garbage and refuse collection services was illegal. In this regard, Verizon asserted that Real Property Tax Law § 102 (14) provides, in relevant part, that a “special ad valorem levy” may only be “imposed upon benefit-ted real property” and, since the subject mass property neither required nor received any garbage or refuse collection services, there was no benefit derived therefrom. Accordingly, Verizon sought refunds of the levies it paid in connection with those properties, a judgment declaring that the imposition of the levies was invalid, and injunctive relief.

Verizon moved, inter alia, for partial summary judgment declaring that the imposition of the levies was illegal and void, enjoining the continued imposition of such levies, directing a refund in the sum of $559,991.55 plus interest for the tax years 1994-2002, and directing that the calculation of damages for the levies it paid for the tax years 1992 and 1993 be determined at a trial. In an order dated November 12, 2003, the Supreme Court granted the motion. On appeal, this Court affirmed that order (see New York Tel. Co. v Supervisor of Town of N. Hempstead, 19 AD3d 465 [2005]). This Court concluded that the Supreme Court correctly determined that the special ad valorem levies [124]*124for garbage and refuse collection services imposed were “invalid because the properties did not and could not receive any direct benefit from that service” (id. at 466).

Thereafter, following a nonjury trial on the issue of damages for the 1992 and 1993 tax years, judgment was entered in favor of Verizon and against the Town in various amounts. The Town appealed from the judgment and this Court is affirming that judgment (see New York Tel. Co. v Supervisor of Town of N. Hempstead, 76 AD3d 517 [2010] [decided herewith]).

B. The Third-Party Action

In December 2005 the Town commenced a third-party action against, among others, the County of Nassau, the Assessor, and the BOA (hereinafter collectively the County), seeking, inter alia, indemnification. As relevant to the instant appeal, in the first cause of action in the third-party complaint, the Town alleged, among other things, that pursuant to Nassau County Administrative Code § 6-26.0, the County is required to refund any tax or benefit assessment that is declared to be illegal or erroneous.

The Town moved for summary judgment on the first cause of action in the third-party complaint. In support of its motion, the Town asserted that the County was the “assessing unit,” and was responsible for all errors and illegalities in the assessment roll. Relying upon Nassau County Administrative Code § 6-24.0 (4), which, as discussed in detail infra, pertains to property that has been “assessed erroneously or illegally,” the Town claimed that the County was obligated to refund the levies. Additionally, the Town asserted that the County Guaranty provides that such refunds are to be a “county charge.”

In opposition, the County asserted that the County Guaranty did not apply in the third-party action, and that the refunds sought by Verizon were not a county charge. The County accused the Town of “misreading” the “relevant statutory provisions” and “misunderstanding” the “underlying statutory scheme.” Among other things, the County claimed that Nassau County Administrative Code § 6-24.0 referred only to the “administrative procedure for the correction of errors” and not “refunds arising from judicial proceedings such as the case at bar.” Additionally, the County argued that Nassau County Administrative Code § 6-24.0 was “no longer ... an operative section of the administrative code” since it had been “super[125]*125seded by subsequently enacted general law Title 3 of Article 5 of the RPTL.” The County insisted that the Town was the party “ultimately responsible” for the refund generated in this action.

The Supreme Court denied the Town’s motion, and, upon searching the record, awarded summary judgment to the County dismissing the third-party complaint (2008 NY Slip Op 33608[U]). The Supreme Court determined that the County Guaranty was inapplicable, and that RPTL 726 (1) (b) governed the instant dispute. We disagree and reverse.

II. Relevant Statutory Scheme

In order to resolve the issues presented on this appeal, we must first analyze the interplay of different statutory provisions and the statutory history of the County Guaranty.

A. History of the Guaranty

Prior to 1938, the Nassau County Tax Act (L 1916, ch 541) provided that town boards of assessors were obligated to prepare the local assessment rolls. Refunds of illegally imposed taxes were charged to the towns (see Letter from G. Burchard Smith to Charles D. Breitel, Mar. 8, 1948, Bill Jacket, L 1948, ch 851). In 1938 the offices of town assessor were abolished and their powers and duties transferred to the BOA (see Nassau County Charter §§ 608, 609). The BOA became responsible for assessment of all properties in the County (see Nassau County Charter §§ 602, 609).

In 1939 the State Legislature enacted the Nassau County Administrative Code (hereinafter NCAC), as a codification and restatement of the existing law with relation to the administration of County affairs (L 1939, ch 272).

In 1948 the NCAC was amended to provide that, since the County now assessed all property, tax refunds due to illegal or erroneous assessments would be made a County charge (see Letter from G. Burchard Smith to Charles D.

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Bluebook (online)
77 A.D.3d 121, 908 N.Y.S.2d 401, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/new-york-telephone-co-v-supervisor-of-town-of-north-hempstead-nyappdiv-2010.