292 N.Y. 130 | NY | 1944
In this consolidated proceeding relator reviews, by writs of certiorari, six special franchise assessments made by the State Tax Commission, all pertaining to occupations by relator's railroad of highways within the city of Albany. *134 The order entered on the referee's decision vacated all the assessments. The Appellate Division reversed the referee's order and confirmed all the assessments as made by the Tax Commission. It will be convenient to divide our discussion into four parts.
1. Relator operates its railroad across the Hudson River on two bridges owned by the Hudson River Bridge Company; the tracks, rails, ties and signal equipment on both bridges are owned by relator. The Appellate Division held valid the assessments pertaining to these bridges, on the theory that the railroad's rights to cross these bridges with its trains came to the railroad by grants from the State of New York, such grants having been made in the form of provisos found in the two statutes under which the Hudson River Bridge Company received from the State its franchises to build the bridges. (See L. 1856, ch.
2. As to Van Woert Street, the State Tax Commission had no jurisdiction to levy special franchise assessments against relator by reason of its occupancy of that crossing. It is not now disputed that relator established as fact its "prior occupancy" of that crossing, so there was no special franchise to be taxed. (People ex rel. N.Y.C.R.R. Co. v. Woodbury,
3. As to the Watervliet Avenue assessments, it is now undisputed that, except as to a small triangular piece of land at that crossing, the relator railroad was a prior occupant, so the Watervliet Avenue assessments, which include values not particularized in the lump sum assessments, for that triangular taxable piece, are incorrect and invalid. In the nomenclature of tax litigation, this particular kind of invalidity of an assessment is styled "overvaluation". Under the statute (Tax Law, §
4. The other disputed assessments are based on the relator's occupation of Tivoli Street. For some distance the railroad tracks run lengthwise in Tivoli Street. Branching off from those lengthwise main tracks are a number of industrial side tracks running to the street boundaries and thence into the premises of abutting property owners whose use of the railroad's services is thus facilitated. All of those side tracks, or branch tracks, were constructed, as the courts below found, "under franchises duly sold by the city of Albany at public auction, from time to time, and purchased by the several industries, *137
desiring side track connections with such main line track". As further found by the courts below, all these "franchises" so purchased from the city of Albany, were, with three exceptions, assigned by the respective purchasers to this relator. The Tivoli Street special franchise assessments here under review include valuations for the three side tracks, or sets of side tracks, not so assigned to relator. This, says relator, makes the Tivoli Street assessments void, since, according to relator, it is not enjoying any special franchise rights as to those three side tracks, the "franchises" for which still belong to the abutting owners. However, the findings are that relator, not the three "franchise" purchasers, owns the tracks and other physical property making up the three side tracks. It is relator, and not those three abutting owners, which operates trains over those side tracks. (See Clarke v. Blackmar,
One more contention of the Commission requires discussion. As to the Van Woert, Watervliet and Tivoli assessments, the Tax Commission points out that, as the Appellate *138 Division found, relator filed with the Commission, pursuant to section 44 of the Tax Law, annual reports in which these three locations were listed as special franchises. The Appellate Division overruled the referee's refusal to find the facts as to such filings and made a new finding that such reports were so filed, but neither referee nor Appellate Division adopted the conclusion of law, requested by the Tax Commission, that, because of the filing of such reports, relator was estopped from asserting in these proceedings the invalidity of the assessments. As to the Van Woert Street assessments, the Commission, as above explained, had no jurisdiction at all so the assessments were totally void; jurisdiction could not be created by relator's mistaken report to the Commission that there existed a special franchise at that crossing. (See People ex rel. Erie R.R. Co. v. Tax Comm.,supra, at pages 325 and 326.) As to Watervliet Avenue and Tivoli Street, we do not see how any question of estoppel could arise. The railroad's reports to the Commission that the railroad had special franchises at those places are not inconsistent with the claim now made that those franchises are overassessed.
The order of the Appellate Division should be modified so as to provide that all the Van Woert Street assessments under review in these proceedings be annulled and that all the Watervliet Avenue and Tivoli Street assessments under review in these proceedings be remitted to the State Tax Commission to make reassessments, otherwise the order should be affirmed, without costs.
The order should be modified in accordance with this opinion and as so modified affirmed, without costs. (See
LEHMAN, Ch. J., LOUGHRAN, RIPPEY, LEWIS, CONWAY and THACHER, JJ., concur.
*139Ordered accordingly.