[U] Falbe V. Tax Assessor For The Town Of Cornwall

By Order to Show Cause dated February 4, 2005 the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, Orange County, New York [ " Village of Cornwall " ] seeks pursuant to C.P.L.R. § 5015 to vacate an Amended Order submitted, ex parte, and signed by Justice Peter P. Rosato on February 23, 2004 and filed with the Orange County Clerk on March 17, 2004 to the extent the Amended Order directs the Village of Cornwall to pay tax refunds to the Petitioners, Edward and Cecelia Falbe [ " the Falbes " ] for the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 on the grounds that (1) the Village of Cornwall is a separate assessing unit*fn1 [ not a party to the instant proceedings ] and as such Petitioners failed to timely file " each year to the Village's Board of Assessment Review for the relief requested as against the Village's yearly tax roll " and failed to file a " separate proceeding...each year against the Village in order to have the court entertain a reduction in the assessment set forth on the Village's yearly tax assessment roll "*fn2, (2) " Further, the Village has no record that it was ever provided with notice pursuant to RPTL § 708(3) of the proceedings commenced against the ( Town of Cornwall's ) assessment rolls and has no record that the Village was ever provided with notice of settlement of the proposed Order or of the ( proposed ) Amended Order "*fn3 and (3) as regards the 2001 Petition with Index Number 5101/01 and the 2002 Petition with Index Number 5061/02, they must be dismissed because Petitioners did not comply with R.P.T.L. § 708(3) by failing to file with the Orange County Clerk proof of mailing of a " copy of the petition and notice within ten(10) days from the date of service on the Town to the School District, the Commissioner of Finance of Orange County and to the Village of Cornwall-On-Hudson "*fn4. Lastly, the Village of Cornwall seeks the imposition of sanctions against Petitioners' counsel because " The Village should not have been put to the burden and expense of having to defend this meritless attempt to obtain a tax refund on Village assessments that were never challenged "*fn5.