Penfield Tax Protest Group v. Yancey

• Decision Date: 23 December 1994
• Citation: 621 N.Y.S.2d 256,210 A.D.2d 901
• Parties: Matter of the PENFIELD TAX PROTEST GROUP, Phyllis Dann, Jim and Carolyn Welton and Peter Sciortino, for Themselves and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Appellants, v. Linda YANCEY, The Assessor of the Town of Penfield, The Town Board of the Town of Penfield and The Town of Penfield, Respondents.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 256

621 N.Y.S.2d 256

210 A.D.2d 901

Matter of the PENFIELD TAX PROTEST GROUP, Phyllis Dann, Jim

and Carolyn Welton and Peter Sciortino, for

Themselves and on Behalf of All Others

Similarly Situated, Appellants, v. Linda YANCEY, The Assessor of the Town of Penfield, The Town

Board of the Town of Penfield and The Town of

Penfield, Respondents.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division,

Fourth Department.

Dec. 23, 1994.

Robert L. Jacobson, of counsel, Rochester, for appellants.

Harris, Beach and Wilcox (Edward H. Fox, of counsel), Rochester, for respondents.

Before GREEN, J.P. and WESLEY, CALLAHAN, DOERR and BOEHM, JJ.

MEMORANDUM:

Petitioners challenge the real property assessment rolls of the Town of Penfield on the ground that the methods and practices employed by respondents in selecting their properties for reassessment violate the equal protection guarantees of the State and Federal Constitutions. Supreme Court properly determined that class action certification is inappropriate in this proceeding (see, Conklin v. Town of Southampton, 141 A.D.2d 596, 529 N.Y.S.2d 517) and that the petition fails to state a cause of action. Because petitioners sought judgment declaring the assessment roll invalid and unconstitutional, however, the court should not have dismissed the petition without making a declaration in favor of respondents (see Maurizzio v. Lumbermens Mut. Casualty Co., 73 N.Y.2d 951, 954, 540 N.Y.S.2d 982, 538 N.E.2d 334; Pyramid Co. of Auburn v. Chu, 177 A.D.2d 970, 577 N.Y.S.2d 1015; Henry St. Settlement v. Town of Yorktown, 93 A.D.2d 855, 461 N.Y.S.2d 355). We modify the judgment, therefore, by reinstating the petition and by granting judgment in favor of respondents declaring that the 1993-1994 assessment roll of the Town of Penfield is valid and constitutional.

Judgment unanimously modified on the law and as modified affirmed without costs and judgment granted.