Carbone v. Kelly

QUA, Justice. This is a petition for a writ of mandamus to compel the board of assessors of Boston to issue to the petitioner a certificate under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 59, § 70, to the effect that the tax for the year 1933 has been abated upon premises on Congress street in Boston occupied by the petitioner as a tenant 'paying taxes in full on said premises.' The single Justice ordered 'that the petition be dismissed as a matter of law and not as a matter of discretion,' and reported the case. We assume in favor of the petitioner that it was 'A person aggrieved' and therefor entitled to apply to the assessors for an abatement under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 59, § 59, an amended by St. 1933, c. 266, and that, if an abatement has in fact been granted, it is entitled by means of this proceeding to obtain a certificate thereof from the present assessors under said section 70. The order of the single Justice is to be construed as a ruling that as matter of law there was no evidence which would justify the issuance of the writ. It follows that the sole question for decision is whether there is anything in the single Justice's findings of subsidiary facts and in the evidence reported which would justify an ultimate finding that the assessors have abated the tax.