People ex rel. Erie R. Co. v. State Tax Comm'n
| Decision Date | 22 November 1927 |
| Citation | 158 N.E. 884,246 N.Y. 322 |
| Parties | PEOPLE ex rel. ERIE R. CO. v. STATE TAX COMMISSION. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Certiorari by the People, on the relation of the Erie Railroad Company, to review an assessment of the State Tax Commission. From two orders of the Appellate Division (217 App. Div. 811, 217 N. Y. S. 929; 221 App. Div. 200, 223 N. Y. S. 367), one affirming an order of Special Term, which granted a motion to quash the writ of certiorari, and one reversing an order of Special Term, which denied a similar motion, relator appeals. Latter order reversed, and that of Special Term affirmed; former order and that of Special Term reversed, and motion to quash denied.
See, also, 127 Misc. Rep. 13, 214 N. Y. S. 503; 128 Misc. Rep. 142, 218 N. Y. S. 281.Appeal from Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department.
Frederick Collin, of New York City, Ross M. Lovell, of Elmira, and Marion H. Fisher, of Jamestown, for appellant.
Albert Ottinger, Atty. Gen. (Frederic J. Merriman, of Madrid, of counsel), for respondent.
[1][2][3][4][5][6] Relator enjoys special franchises in Newburgh and in Jamestown which have been assessed for purposes of taxation. One petition upon which an order of certiorari to review assessments was order of certiorari to review assessments was the crossing at South Water street in Newburgh is not a special franchise, and that the assessment at that location is illegal, erroneous, and incorrect. The ground alleged for such illegality is that, at the time the railroad and right of way were constructed, that street was not a public highway, and was not opened as such until many years after the construction of the railroad. The other petition alleges that relator's right to occupy the crossings and bridges at Chautauqua outlet and at West Second street in Jamestown do not constitute special franchises, for the reason that the bed of Chautauqua outlet is owned by private proprietors, and is not a public navigable water, and that the occupancy by the railroad at West Second street is a prior occupancy. The motions to quash the writs are deemed to admit the facts alleged in the petitions, and are based upon the fact that relator failed to comply with the provisions of section 45-a of the Tax Law (Consol. Laws, c. 60), and neglected to appear on grievance day and file objections to the assessments. Accepting, for the purposes of the motion to quash, the allegations concerning South Water street in Newburgh and West Second street and Chautauqua outlet in Jamestown, no special franchises existed at these locations, and no jurisdiction resided in the commission to assess. People ex rel. New York Cent. & H. R. R. Co. v. Woodbury, 203 N. Y. 167, 96 N. E. 431;People ex rel. Western New York & P. Ry. Co. v. Tax Commission, 244 N. Y. 596, 155 N. E. 911. In the absence of complaint on grievance day and of allegations of the existence of such complaint in the petitions, as provided by sections 46 and 290 of the Tax Law, the question remains whether relator may attack the assessments as void for lack of jurisdiction.
We think that such an attack must be sustained. Except for an expression in People ex rel. Long Island R. R. Co. v. State Board of Tax Commission, 231 N. Y. 221, 228, 131 N. E. 896, no doubt could exist. When that expression is considered in relation to the unbroken line of precedents by which this court has uniformly held for more than half a century that the issue of jurisdiction can be raised at any time, the statement in that opinion cannot be accepted as an actual decision overruling the doctrine so long and consistently expounded by us. The jurisdiction of the commission extends only to assessment of something which the law makes assessable. Whether the thing is assessable depends upon facts. If the facts are that the railroad occupied the locations at South Water street in Newburgh and at West Second street in Jamestown before these streets were opened as public highways and that Chautauqua outlet is not a public navigable...
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