Opinion
May 12, 1997
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Orange County (Palella, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
As the Court of Appeals has recently reiterated, Real Property Tax Law § 525(2) will preclude a party from seeking an adjustment in a real estate tax assessment only if the failure to disclose requested information is willful. "Courts have therefore refused to dismiss judicial challenges to realty assessments absent proof that noncompliance was occasioned by a desire to frustrate administrative review" (Matter of Fifth Ave. Off. Ctr. Co. v. City of Mount Vernon, 89 N.Y.2d 735, 741-742). Under the circumstances here, we agree with the conclusion of the Supreme Court that the petitioner's objections to the requests by the appellants were, in the main, reasonable, and did not rise to the level of willful noncompliance intended to frustrate administrative review. Therefore, the Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in denying the motion to dismiss the proceeding.
Miller, J.P., Thompson, Joy and Luciano, JJ., concur.