Reid S. Moule

This case involved multiple lawsuits by property owners in Onondaga County's General Motors Circle area against the county for negligence after their properties flooded in heavy rainstorms in 1974 and 1975 due to overflow from Ley Creek. The county had established a drainage district, imposed special taxes, and begun but not completed channel improvements on the creek, including bypassing the plaintiffs' area to perform upstream work in East Syracuse. A jury found the county liable in all actions after a bifurcated trial. On appeal, the court reversed the 1974 flood judgments and dismissed those complaints, finding insufficient evidence that the county's actions proximately caused the flooding, but affirmed the 1975 flood judgments, concluding that the upstream work increased downstream water flow and constituted negligent engineering practice by skipping downstream completion. The court also upheld the jury's handling of contributory and comparative negligence issues.

torts & liabilitypropertyenvironment

The case challenged the constitutionality of chapter 33 of the Laws of 1977, which amended SCPA 2402 to create a single statewide fee schedule for Surrogate’s Court proceedings by raising fees outside New York City to match those long in effect within the city. The court upheld the legislation as constitutional, affirming that the Governor’s message of necessity complied with article III, section 14 of the state constitution given the timing of the unified court budget, that the moderate fees graded by estate value did not deny due process access to the courts, and that the charges were fees rather than taxes and thus not subject to restrictions on ad valorem taxes or tax-statement requirements. The reasoning emphasized that the fees offset costs of the state court system, were not a fixed percentage of estate value, and represented a rational legislative choice within its authority over court financing.

proceduretaxes