Power Company Must Pay Town’s Ad Valorem Sewer Taxes Whether Or Not It Owns the Land On Which Its Transmission Facilities Are Located and Whether or Not It Produces Sewage
The Fourth Department determined that as long as the power company owns the land on which its mass properties (transmission facilities) are located, it must pay the “ad valorem” sewer taxes, even if no sewage is generated. The court further determined that even if the power company did not own the land, it would still be liable for the tax because the town’s storm water sewer system protects the facilities from flooding:
If petitioner owns the land, it must pay the sewer taxes regardless of whether the properties currently produce sewage inasmuch as it is theoretically possible that the properties could be ” developed in a manner that will result in the generation of [sewage]’ ” …, and it is immaterial that the Town taxes the land separately from the improvements thereon and that petitioner challenges only the tax on the improvements.
We further conclude that the court properly granted respondents’ application for summary judgment based on the fact that petitioner may still benefit from the sewer district even if it does not own the land on which its mass properties are located. Respondents established that a significant amount of storm water infiltrates the Town’s sewer system and that “the sewer district encompasses storm sewers that actually or might potentially safeguard [petitioner]’s transmission and distribution facilities from flooding” … . Matter of Niagara Mohawk Power Corp v Assessor, Town of Cheektowaga, 2014 NY Slip Op 04627, 4th Dept 6-20-14