Failure to Strictly Comply with Notice Rules of the Real Property Tax Law Required Dismissal of the Challenge to the Tax Assessment/Criteria for Review of Competing Expert Evidence of Valuation Explained

The Third Department determined that proceedings challenging three yearly tax assessments were properly dismissed. Failure to comply with the notice requirements of the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) was the basis for the dismissal one of the actions and the court explained the relevant law.  The court also explained its review powers re: competing expert evidence of valuation:

Supreme Court properly dismissed the 2010 proceeding for failure to comply with RPTL 708 (3). It is undisputed that petitioner failed to serve a copy of the 2010 notice of petition and petition upon the superintendent of SCCSD [South Colonie Central School District], the school district within which the subject property is located, within 10 days of service of the petition upon the Assessor, as required by RPTL 708 (3). Failure to strictly comply with the statute’s notice requirements “shall result in the dismissal of the petition, unless excused for good cause shown” (RPTL 708 [3]). No such showing has been made here. Petitioner was aware that SCCSD was the proper school district, having previously served SCCSD with the 2008 petition and engaged in litigation with it in connection with that proceeding, and “[t]he mistake or omission of . . . petitioner’s attorney does not constitute ‘good cause shown’ within the meaning of RPTL 708 (3) to excuse . . . petitioner’s failure to comply” … . Nor may noncompliance with the statute be excused on the ground that SCCSD has not been prejudiced thereby … . * * *

At trial [re: the 2008 and 2009 tax assessments], petitioner offered the expert appraisal reports and testimony of a certified real estate appraiser, who utilized the sales comparison methodology to value the property at $1.3 million for the 2008 tax year and $1.4 million for the 2009 tax year. This evidence was sufficient to rebut the presumption of validity and establish a credible dispute between the parties regarding valuation … . Supreme Court was then required to “weigh the entire record, including evidence of claimed deficiencies in the assessment, to determine whether petitioner has established by a preponderance of the evidence that its property has been overvalued” … . “Our review of such a determination must necessarily defer to Supreme Court in its resolution of any credibility issues that have been generated by the conflicting expert opinions[,] and is limited to whether the court’s determination of the fair market value of the subject property is supported by or against the weight of the evidence” … . Highbridge Dec BR LLC v Assessor of the Town of Niskayuna, 2014 NY Slip Op 07216, 3rd Dept 10-23-14