County (Nassau) Must Indemnify Special Districts for Ad Valorem Tax Refunds Paid by the Special Districts

The Second Department determined that special districts (sanitation and garbage) which were obligated to refund ad valorem taxes wrongly collected from the New York Water Service Corporation were entitled to be reimbursed by the county:

… “[P]ursuant to the County Guaranty, the County is liable for refunds of tax payments made in connection with levies for special ad valorem taxes” … . We have also held that “special ad valorem levies are not assessments for benefit’ within the meaning of former Nassau County Administrative Code § 6-26.0(b)(3)(a)-(b) and, thus, they cannot be charged back to the special districts in the following tax year” … . …[T]he County entities must indemnify the special districts for any refunds paid by the special districts … . New York Water Serv Corp v Supervisor of Town of Oyster Bay, 2015 NY Slip Op 01431, 2nd Dept 2-18-15