Stewart v. Fonda
New York Supreme Court
Motions for new trials on verdicts directed at the circuit, subject to the opinion of the court at General Term. These cases were considered together, the questions involved in each being the same.
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Motions for new trials on verdicts directed at the circuit, subject to the opinion of the court at General Term. These cases were considered together, the questions involved in each being the same. The actions were brought against the defendants on the ground that, as assessors of the town of Saratoga Springs, in 1878, they wrongfully assessed plaintiffs on their real estate in said town as resident taxpayers, instead of placing said real estate on the assessment-roll as non-resident lands, or assessing the same to the occupants thereof. No question was raised in either case but what the…
1Opinion of the Court
Bearned, P. J. :
The principle which holds an assessor personally liable, in certain cases, for his official acts to the party injured, is certainly hard, and ought not to be extended. The assessor is' obliged to act, and to act upon the facts as he can learn them by inquiry. (1 R. S., 390, § 8.) If, on such inquiry, the facts are presented to him in one form, and subsequently, in an action brought against him, a different state of facts is proved by evidence, seems to be unreasonable that he should suffer. He is not like some inferior officers, who act upon a written and sworn application,…
2Cases cited14 opinions
- Lange v. . BenedictNew York Court of Appeals · 1878
- National Bank of Chemung v. City of ElmiraNew York Court of Appeals · 1873
- Mygatt v. . WashburnNew York Court of Appeals · 1857
- Whitney v. . ThomasNew York Court of Appeals · 1861
- Clark v. . NortonNew York Court of Appeals · 1872
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