The question in this case is whether Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) § 936, which obligates a county to credit a town’s unpaid property tax, also requires the county to credit other unpaid assessments levied by a town against real property.
In New York, each town collects county and local property taxes on real property located within the town’s borders. If the amount of taxes collected by the town does not cover the town’s tax bill, the county must pay the town the difference. In this regard, counties are said to guarantee the town’s property taxes. In return, counties are given sole authority to seek recovery of any tax deficiency through foreclosure on the real property. RPTL § 936 is the statutory provision that requires counties to guarantee town property taxes. That provision states that the county must credit the town “with the amount of . . . unpaid delinquent taxes.”
This case involves town laws that seek to combat the blight of neglected and abandoned properties. Specifically, Irondequoit and Brighton–two towns situated in Monroe County near Rochester–enacted measures that authorized the town to perform maintenance and demolition work on blighted properties. The measures further authorized the town to levy the cost of that maintenance and demolition work against the affected property. Traditionally, the towns collected any such unpaid levies from the County pursuant to the property tax guarantee provision of RPTL § 936. In 2016, however, the County stated that it would no longer credit towns’ unpaid “non-tax” charges, including the maintenance and demolition charges.
The towns challenged the County’s decision in this CPLR article 78 proceeding. Supreme Court initially granted the petition and annulled the County’s decision, but a divided panel of the Fourth Department reversed. Noting that the guaranty provision of RPTL § 936 applied only to town “taxes,” the majority held that the charges at issue did not fall within the general definition of “tax” because they were for the benefit of the individual properties and were not “public burdens imposed generally for governmental purposes benefiting the entire community.” Nor were the charges a “special ad valorem levy,” which might be considered a “tax.” And even if the charges were considered a “special assessment,” the RPTL specifically excludes special assessments from the definition of “tax.” The two dissenting judges would have concluded that the charges were special assessments, which could, in the dissenters’ view, be considered a tax under circumstances such as these.
Petitioners appealed to the Court of Appeals as a matter of right based on the two-judge dissent.
Return to the case page for Matter of Town of Irondequoit v. Monroe County.