88 N.Y.S. 774 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1904
This proceeding was commenced for the purpose of reviewing the action of the defendants in refusing to reduce the assessment for taxation of certain real estate in the city of New York. A writ of certiorari was issued, to which the defendants made a return. The defendants moved upon the petition, writ and return to quash the writ, which motion was denied, whereupon the court appointed a referee to take evidence upon the issues raised by the petition and the return thereto, and report the same to this court with his findings of fact and conclusions of law. The parties proceeded before the referee, who filed his report, whereby he found that one of the pieces of property was assessed for taxation for the year 1899 in the sum of $50,000 over and above its value; that the other piece of property was assessed at the rate of sixty-four and two-sevenths per cent of its value; that real estate throughout the borough of
The proceeding must thus be treated as one to correct an assess^ ment upon real property, upon the ground that it was erroneous by reason of inequality, in that the real property was assessed at a higher proportionate value than other real estate on the tax roll of the city for the same year was assessed, and the substantial question is one of fact, whether the conclusion of the referee is sustained by the evidence.
By article 11 of the Tax Law (Laws of 1896, chap. 908) provision is made for a review of the action of the taxing'officers in the assessment of property for taxation. Section 250 provides that “ any person assessed upon any assessment-roll, claiming to be aggrieved by any assessment for property therein, may present to the Supreme Court a petition duly verified setting forth that the assessment is illegal, specifying the grounds of the alleged illegality, or if erroneous by reason of overvaluation, stating the extent of such overvaluation, or if unequal in that the assessment has been made at a higher proportionate valuation than the assessment of other property on the same' roll by the same officers, specifying the instances in which such inequality exists, and the extent thereof, and stating that he is or will be injured thereby.” Section 253 of said statute provides that “ if it shall appear upon the return to any such writ that the assessment complained of is illegal or erroneous or unequal for any of the reasons alleged in the petition, the court may order such assessment, if illegal, to be stricken from the roll, or if erroneous or unequal, it may order a re-assessment of the property of
The charter of 1897 (Laws of 1897, chap. 378), which was in force at the time this assessment was made and these proceedings commenced, provides a system for the assessment of real property in the city of Uew York under which the defendants acted in making the assessment of this property for.taxation. Section 889 provided that the deputy tax commissioners, under the direction of the board of taxes and assessments, should assess all of the taxable prop
This necessarily involves an inquiry as to the general ratio of the
To entitle the owner of property to relief he must therefore show that his property has been assessed at a higher proportionate value than other real estate on the tax rolls of the city generally for the same year; and he is also required to specify the instances in which such inequality exists and the extent thereof. It could not have been intended to require a relator to show the ratio between actual and assessed value of every piece of property In the particular taxing district in which his property is situated to entitle him to relief, as that would be manifestly-impossible. Section 906 of the charter - required that he specify the instances in which the inequality exists,' and the extent thereof, and this requirement is, I think, fairly met when there is evidence from which it can be found that taking this particular taxing district as a whole the relator’s property has been assessed at a greater value than real estate in the city generally has been assessed; and when this fact is established it is not met by the taxing authorities specifying several pieces of property, which have been assessed ¿t a higher ratio than the relator’s property, any more than it would justify a finding of inequality for the relator to select a few specific pieces of property that have been assessed at a less
We now come back to the question, whether the finding of the referee that the established ratio of assessed to. market value for the city, taken as a whole, does not exceed fifty-five per cent ? If it does it follows necessarily that the relators were entitled to have the assessment upon their premises reduced to that percentage of its actual value; for in that way only can the relators be relieved from paying a greater proportion of the aggregate tax than is paid by the other owners of property taken as a whole. The evidence taken before the referee is very voluminous. There was evidence showing the sales of many pieces of property throughout the city with the consideration named in the conveyances, and this was compared with the assessed value of each particular piece of property sold. Assuming that the consideration stated in these conveyances was the actual price at which the property was sold, this would furnish a satisfactory basis for determining the actual ratio between the market value and the assessed value .of these particular pieces of property, and it does not seem to be disputed but that generally conveyances of this kind when they express an actual consideration and not a nominal one state the actual price at which the property was sold. At any rate the price is not understated. It would appear,that these pieces of property are fairly representative of all the property in the .city, and this evidence furnishes material for determining the actual ratio between the assessed and market value of property in the city generally. The actual price at which a piece of property is sold is much more satisfactory evidence of its value than the estimate of experts. An examination of the ratio between actual sales and the assessed value of' property sold bears out, I think, the finding of the referee as to the existing ratio between assessed 6and market values, and there is also other evidence scat
A further consideration of this testimony is hardly necessary as I am satisfied that, considering the peculiar conditions here shown to exist, the finding of the referee was fairly ¡sustained and the court below was justified in accepting it and in basing its final order upon these conclusions.
It follows that the order appealed from should be affirmed, with costs and disbursements. ,
O’Bkiee, McLaughlin, Hatch and Laughlin, JJ., concurred.
Order affirmed, with costs and disbursements.