Opinion
94333.
Decided and Entered: May 20, 2004.
Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (initiated in this Court pursuant to RPTL 1218) to review a determination of respondent State Board of Real Property Services which set a segment special equalization rate for a portion of respondent Town of Southampton located in respondent Riverhead Central School District.
Dawn C. Thomas, Town Attorney, Riverhead (Scott De Simone of counsel), for Town of Riverhead, petitioner.
William F. Andes Jr., Riverhead, for Edward Densieski, petitioner.
Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General, Albany (Robert M. Goldfarb of counsel), for New York State Board of Real Property Services, respondent.
Stephen Brown, Town Attorney, Southhampton (Kimberly A. Judd of counsel), for Town of Southhampton, respondent.
Before: Crew III, J.P., Peters, Mugglin, Rose and Kane, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND JUDGMENT
Respondent Town of Southampton submitted an application to respondent State Board of Real Property Services (hereinafter Board) for a segment special equalization rate pursuant to RPTL 1226(2), requesting a special rate for property located within Southampton that is part of respondent Riverhead Central School District. The district covers portions of three towns, Southampton, respondent Town of Brookhaven, and petitioner Town of Riverhead. After providing notice and opportunity for all those interested to be heard, the Board granted Southampton's request and adopted a resolution establishing a segment special equalization rate for the affected area. Petitioners commenced this proceeding in this Court pursuant to RPTL 1218, seeking a judgment annulling the Board's resolution.
We now dismiss the petition because Riverhead lacks capacity to institute this proceeding and both petitioners lack standing. Capacity "concerns a litigant's power to appear and bring its grievance before the court" (Community Bd. 7 of Borough of Manhattan v. Schaffer, 84 N.Y.2d 148, 155). Governmental entities created by legislative enactment, such as towns, are artificial creatures of statute lacking any inherent or common-law right to sue (see id. at 155-156). A town's right to sue, if it exists, is derived from legislation (see id. at 156). The broad grant of authority of Town Law § 65 (1) to sue in furtherance of the town's general municipal responsibilities is insufficient to imply authority to bring suit against the state itself (see City of New York v. State of New York, 86 N.Y.2d 286, 293), and none of the exceptions to this general rule applies in this case (see id. at 292). Nor is Riverhead aided by RPTL 1218, the sole statutory provision authorizing a challenge to a Board determination regarding equalization rates. That statute provides that this Court may review a final determination of the Board "upon application of the county, city, town or village for which the rate or rates were established" (RPTL 1218). The statute's plain language creates capacity to sue only for the municipality whose equalization rate was established. As no statute authorizes Riverhead to challenge the Board's determination of Southampton's equalization rate, Riverhead lacked the capacity to initiate this proceeding.
Furthermore, both petitioners lack standing. The statute which creates a right to challenge governmental action may answer the question of standing by identifying the class of individuals entitled to seek such review (see Society of Plastics Indus. v. County of Suffolk, 77 N.Y.2d 761, 769). As noted above, RPTL 1218 confers the right to review only upon the municipality whose equalization rate was established, not upon neighboring towns or property owners in other towns. Neither petitioner falls within the statute's limited class authorized to challenge the Board's determination (compare Matter of Town of Roxbury v. Stevens, 237 A.D.2d 860; Matter of Fishel v. Gaffney, 224 A.D.2d 769, 770).
In addition to falling outside the statutorily authorized class, petitioners failed to establish common-law standing. To establish standing, a party must establish an injury in fact which falls within the zone of interests sought to be promoted by the statutory provision under which the agency acted (see Society of Plastics Indus. v. County of Suffolk, supra at 773), and that there is no legislative intent negating review (see Matter of Axelrod v. Sobol, 78 N.Y.2d 112, 115; Matter of City of New York v. City Civ. Serv. Commn., 60 N.Y.2d 436, 442-443; Matter of Fischel v. Gaffney, supra at 770). Injury in fact requires proof of special harm different in kind and degree from the community in general (see Matter of Colella v. Boards of Assessors of County of Nassau, 95 N.Y.2d 401, 410). Neither petitioner asserted any specific harm in the petition. Riverhead will not suffer any actual harm as it does not pay school taxes, the only taxes affected by the segment special equalization rate, nor may a town bring an action to protect or redress wrongs or injuries to individual citizens, including the taxpayers within the town (see County of Albany v. Hooker, 204 N.Y. 1, 14; Matter of Esopus Prop. Holders Residing Within New Paltz Cent. School Dist. v. Potter, 60 A.D.2d 948). Individual property owners in the district, but outside the Southampton segment, while perhaps suffering the injury of a slightly higher tax burden because of the segment special equalization rate, cannot demonstrate a special harm different from that suffered by the community in general. We have previously held that individual taxpayers lack standing to challenge the methodology the Board used to calculate equalization rates (see Rokowsky v. State Bd. of Equalization Assessment, 172 A.D.2d 93, 95). Based on petitioners' failure to allege or establish any injury in fact, in addition to legislative intent negating review by these petitioners, we must dismiss the petition because neither petitioner has standing.
Crew III, J.P., Peters, Mugglin and Rose, JJ., concur.
ADJUDGED that the petition is dismissed, without costs.