New York Univ. v. American Book Co.
| Decision Date | 18 January 1910 |
| Citation | 197 N.Y. 294,90 N.E. 819 |
| Parties | NEW YORK UNIVERSITY v. AMERICAN BOOK CO. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department.
Action by the New York University against the American Book Company. From an order of the Appellate Division, First Department (132 App. Div. 732,117 N. Y. Supp. 387), affirming an interlocutory judgment overruling a demurrer to the complaint, defendant, by permission, appeals. Affirmed, and the question certified answered in the affirmative.
See, also, 133 App. Div. 899, 118 N. Y. Supp. 1127.
Franklin Pierce, for appellant.
George A. Strong, for respondent.
Plaintiff is the owner of a large building in the city of New York which it leased to the defendant for a term of years. The lease contained no provision with referenceto the payment of taxes that might be imposed upon the property, and therefore the burden of their payment remained on the landlord. The defendant during its occupancy of the premises used large quantities of water, which was furnished to it by the city and measured through a meter, The defendant failed to pay for the water consumed by it, whereupon the plaintiff paid the city's claim, and has brought this action to recover the amount paid.
The city of New York under the charter (Laws 1901, c. 466, § 473) is authorized to adopt either of two distinct methods of compensating or reimbursing itself for furnishing water to its inhabitants. The first is by the exercise of the power of taxation; the second, by sale. By the section cited the board of alderment is authorized to establish a uniform scale of rates and charges for supplying water to different classes of buildings in the city with reference to their dimensions, value, exposure, use, etc. The rates so imposed must be paid regardless of the quantity of water used, or whether any water is used. Such a rate is a tax (Remsen v. Wheeler, 105 N. Y. 573, 12 N. E. 564; Matter of Trustees of Union College, 129 N. Y. 308, 29 N. E. 460), and the obligation to pay it is created by the exercise of the taxing power of the local authorities. By the same section it is also provided that no charge shall be made against any building in which a water meter shall have been placed as provided by the charter. By section 475 the commissioner of water supply is authorized to place meters in certain classes of buildings, and the charge made depends solely upon the quantity of water used. In this class...
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State ex rel. Webster Groves Sanitary Sewer Dist. v. Smith
... ... utility can be made use of, is a tax. New York University ... v. American Book Co., 197 N.Y. 297, 90 N.E. 819. (4) The ... ...
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Herkimer Cnty. Indus. Dev. Agency v. Vill. of Herkimer, 168
...the obligation to pay therefor must primarily rest upon [the consumer] who buys and consumes the article" ( New York Univ. v. American Book Co., 197 N.Y. 294, 297, 90 N.E. 819 [1910] ). Nonetheless, where, as here, an owner "consents to the tenant's using water in [a] building, supplied thr......
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Mahler v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
...number of stories, particular use, etc. In urging that frontage rents are taxes the petitioners rely upon New York University v. American Book Co., 197 N.Y. 294, 297, 90 N.E. 819, 820, which differentiates between metered service and a frontage rate, stating that in the former case the user......
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... ... University v. American Book Co., 197 N.Y. 294, 90 N.E. 891; Silkman v. Board of Water Comrs. City of Yonkers, 152 N.Y ... ...