143 N.Y.S. 334 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1913
The important question at issue upon this appeal is whether the aqueduct constructed by the city of New York to convey water from the Ashokan reservoir in the county of Ulster to the city of New York is exempt from taxation pursuant to the provisions of chapter 724 of the Laws of 1905.
Said city has acquired title to a continuous strip of land extending from said reservoir to said city. The portion thereof extending through the town of Gardiner, Ulster county, is
The respondents assessed said strip and parcel of land at $61,000, and in their return to the writ of certiorari state that in determining the value thereof they considered the cost and value of the aqueduct, blow off and buildings, and the uses for which they were designed, but did not fix a separate value upon either, but considered them with and as a part of the entire property and fixed the value of the land accordingly. The matter was submitted to the Special Term upon the petition and return. The court dismissed the writ upon the ground that the aqueduct and blow off were taxable. This, we think, was error.
Section 480 of the Greater New York charter (Laws of 1901, chap. 466) provided that lands theretofore taken or to be taken for constructions necessary for furnishing a water supply to the city “shall be assessed and taxed in the counties in which they are or may be located, in the manner prescribed by law, exclusive of the aqueducts.” The respondents contend that this provision was repealed by chapters 598 and 724 of the Laws of 1905, and also by the General Tax Law (Consol. Laws, chap. 60; Laws of 1909, chap. 62). Neither act expressly repeals the provision in question, nor can either be said to repeal it by implication.
Furthermore, the acts of 1905 were special acts. The General Tax Law of 1909 (§§ 3, 4, subd. 3) provided that all the property of a municipal corporation situated outside the corporate limits should be subject to taxation. Respondents’ counsel cite as authority for their contention that the provisions above cited
Section 2 of article 12 of the State Constitution provides that “Laws relating to the property, affairs or government of cities, and the several departments thereof, are divided into general .and special city laws; general city, laws are those which relate to all the cities of one or more classes; special city, laws are
We conclude that the portion of the Greater New York charter of 1901 which excluded the aqueduct from assessment and taxation has not been repealed and that the respondents should not have taken the aqueduct into consideration in fixing the assessment. As to the discharge pipe, terméd the blow off, the record is devoid of evidence as to its nature, but if the same constitutés an essential part of the aqueduct and was necessary to its operation, it would seem to be a part of the aqueduct and exempt from taxation and assessment.
The order of the Special Term should be reversed and the said assessment of the relator stricken from the roll as illegal, with costs to the relator.
All concurred; Howard, J., not sitting.
Order of Special Term reversed and assessment of relator stricken from the roll as illegal, with ten dollars costs and disbursements to the relator.