Baldwin Union Free School District v. County of Nassau

OPINION OF THE COURT

Abdus-Salaam, J.

In this case, we are presented with, essentially, the following question: may Nassau County pass a local law that shifts the obligation to pay real property tax refunds from the County to its individual taxing districts, thereby superseding a special state tax law? We answer this question in the negative. The State Constitution vests in the State and the counties only a definite and circumscribed set of powers. Beyond its constitutional authority, neither a county nor the State can act, regardless of the perceived wisdom of its conduct or the nobility of…