of Peekskill, county of Westchester, for damages and personal injuries sustained by him because of the alleged negligence of certain members of the National Guard of the state of New York, while in the service thereof, in the operation of a certain New York National Guard motor truck, at or about one-thirty o'clock of the morning of the eighteenth day of June, nineteen hundred and twenty-three, by permitting the said motor truck, after having collided with a Franklin automobile, to stand cross-wise in the roadway of Welcher Hill in the village of Peekskill, unguarded and without lights or other means of warning to approaching traffic of the said obstruction on the said highway, and thereby permitting a dangerous condition to exist, by reason of which the said Harold T. McCoy sustained personal injuries and property damage, notice of Court may intention to file said claim not having been seasonably given; and if the court shall find that the claimant sustained personal injuries and injury to his property, and that such personal injuries and injury to his property were caused by the negligence of state employees while acting in the course of their employment in the operation of such motor truck, without contributory negligence on the part of the claimant, the state shall be deemed to have been liable for such negligence on the part of said employees and damages therefor shall constitute a legal and valid claim against the state, and the court may award to and render judgment for the claimant against the state for such sum as it shall find to be just and equitable, provided the claim herein is filed with the court of claims within one year after this act takes effect. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. render judgment. Claim to be filed. Jurisdiction conferred. Notwith standing CHAPTER 429 AN ACT to confer jurisdiction on the court of claims to hear, audit and determine the alleged claim of John J. McDermott, of Port Washington, Nassau county, against the state, for damages sustained by being delayed by the state highway authorities in performing his contract, with extras, for the improvement of the Smithtown Fort Salonga road number ten hundred and forty-eight-a. Became a law April 8, 1925, with the approval of the Governor. Passed, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the court of claims to hear, audit and determine the alleged claim of John J. McDermott of Port Washington, Nassau county, against the state, for damages sustained by being delayed by the state highway authorities in performing his contract, with extras, for the improvement of the Smithtown Fort Salonga road number ten hundred and forty-eight-a. § 2. The estate hereby consents to have its liability on such irregular- claim determined notwithstanding the failure of said John J. McDermott to file either a written claim or written notice of inten ities. be filed. tion to file a claim against the state within six months after such claim accrued, provided that such claim be filed with the attorney- Claim to general and in the office of the clerk of the court of claims within six months from the date this act takes effect. claim not § 3. Nothing herein contained, however, shall be held as ad- Validity of mitting the validity of such claim or any part thereof upon the admitted. part of the state, nor as waiving any defense except as herein provided. § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER 430 AN ACT to confer jurisdiction upon the court of claims to hear, audit and determine the claim of the county of Madison for reimbursement of moneys paid by such county for road construction alleged to have been chargeable to the state, and to render judgment therefor. Became a law April 8, 1925, with the approval of the Governor. Passed, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: diction judgment Section 1. Jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the court of Jurisclaims to hear, audit and determine the claim of the county of conferred. Madison against the state for moneys alleged to have been paid by such county for road construction in certain cases where it is alleged that the expense of such construction was chargeable to the state, and if the court finds that the county of Madison paid Court may money for road construction which was properly chargeable to the ge state, it may make an award thereon and render judgment against notwiththe state in favor of the claimant for such sum as the court may irregulardetermine to be justly due, notwithstanding the failure of such county to file notice of intention to file such claim, and notwithstanding the failure of such county to file such claim within the time prescribed by section twelve of the court of claims act, provided the claim herein is filed with the court of claims within six months after this act takes effect. standing ities. of state. § 2. The state hereby consents to have its liability on such claim Liability determined. Nothing herein contained shall be held as admitting and rights the validity of such claim, or any part thereof, upon the part of the state, nor as waiving any defense of the state thereto, except that such claim shall not be impaired or defeated on account of the failure to file the notice of claim within the time prescribed by statute. § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. L. 1909, ch. 21 (revision ch. 140), 8 414 CHAPTER 431 AN ACT to amend the education law, relating to the equalization of school taxes within joint districts. Became a law April 8, 1925, with the approval of the Governor. Passed, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: 66 Section 1. Section four hundred and fourteen of chapter Twenty-one of the laws of nineteen hundred and nine, entitled of L. 1910, An act relating to education, constituting chapter sixteen of the consolidated laws," as amended by chapter one hundred and forty of the laws of nineteen hundred and ten, chapter five hundred and eighty-five of the laws of nineteen hundred and twenty-one, and chapter three hundred and sixty-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred and twenty-four, is hereby amended to read as follows: amended. § 414. Equalization within joint districts. When a district embraces parts of two or more towns, the trustee, trustees, or board of education of such district may upon their own motion, and shall upon the written request of three or more persons liable to pay taxes upon real property in such district secure from the last completed town assessment-rolls a statement of the assessed valuation of each parcel of real property and of all personal property subject to taxation for school purposes in such district and shall deliver such statement to the district superintendent of the supervisory district in which the schoolhouse of such district is located. Such district superintendent shall immediately secure from the state tax commission a statement of the rates of equalization fixed by the commission for the towns in which such district is situated and shall determine the full valuation of the real property of each part of a town included in such district by dividing the total assessed valuation of such real property in such part of a town by the rate of equalization fixed by the commission for such town and shall add to such full valuation the amount of all assessments of personal property liable to taxation for school purposes in such part of a town. Such district superintendent shall also determine what proportion of any tax thereafter to be levied in such district for school purposes shall be levied upon each part of a town included in such district by dividing the sum of the full valuation of real property and the assessed valuation of personal property in such part of a town by the total of all such full valuations of real property and assessed valuations of personal property in such school district. Such proportions should be expressed in the nearest exact hundredths and the trustee or trustees of such school district shall thereafter levy such a proportion of any tax to be raised in the district upon each part of a town included in such district as shall have been determined by the district superintendent, until a new determination shall have been made in accordance with the provisions of this section. 1In a joint district that is not within the jurisdiction of a district superin1 Following sentence new. tendent of schools, and in a city school district which comprises the whole or a part of the territory of a city and the whole or a part of the territory of one or more towns, the duties which would otherwise be performed by the district superintendent under the provisions of this section, shall be performed by the board of education of such district. If it shall be made to appear to the state tax commission by a verified statement of the town assessors that there has been a sufficiently large increase in the assessed valuation of taxable real property as to materially increase the ratio which the assessed valuation of real property bears to the full valuation since the last equalized rate for the town was fixed by the state tax commission, the tax commission shall fix and determine a new rate of equalization for the sole purpose of equalization under this section. Such rate of equalization as finally fixed and determined shall be furnished by the state tax commission to the district superintendent of schools upon request. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER 432 AN ACT to amend chapter two hundred and thirty-three of the laws of nineteen hundred and twenty-four, entitled "An act to create a commission to make plans for the celebration in the year nineteen hundred and twentyfive of the centennial of the opening of the old Erie canal, and making an appropriation therefor," relative to the time of such celebration and the report of the commission. Became a law April 8, 1925, with the approval of the Governor. Passed, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly. do enact as follows: ch. 233, Section 1. Section two of chapter two hundred and thirty-three L. 1924, of the laws of nineteen hundred and twenty-four, entitled "An § 2 act to create a commission to make plans for the celebration in amended. the year nineteen hundred and twenty-five of the centennial of the opening of the old Erie canal and making an appropriation therefor," is hereby amended to read as follows: § 2. Such commission shall arrange preliminary details, devise Duties. ways and means and adopt plans for the proper celebration1 of the centennial of the opening of the old Erie canal. Such commission shall so plan and arrange such celebration that it will be, not only a memorial of a great historical event, but the occasion for forcefully bringing to the minds of the business world the benefits to be accrued from a wider and larger use of the canal as a means of transportation. The commission shall make a report of its pro- Reports. ceedings to the legislature and to the governor not later than the first day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty-five, and a final report not later than the first day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty-six. § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 1 Words "in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-five," omitted. Remainder of sentence new, § 25a added to L. 1909, ch. 29. CHAPTER 433 AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to the definition of a taxpayer. Became a law April 8, 1925, with the approval of the Governor. Passed, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Chapter twenty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred and nine, entitled "An act relating to municipal corporations, constituting chapter twenty-four of the consolidated laws," is hereby amended by inserting therein, after section twenty-five, a new section, to be section twenty-five-a, to read as follows: § 25-a. Defintion of taxpayer as applied to certain proceedings. If the proceedings for the issuance of such bonds were taken pursuant to the provisions of article five of the general city law, the term "taxpayer," for the purposes of the preceding section, shall mean any person defined as such in said article five of the general city law; if the proceedings for the issuance of bonds were taken pursuant to the provisions of the special act or charter of a city, the term "taxpayer," for the purposes of the preceding section, shall mean any person defined as such for the purposes of such proceedings in the special act or charter of such city. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER 434 AN ACT to extend the time of the Hornell and Dansville Railroad Company to finish construction of its railroad, and to revive and continue its corporate existence for that purpose. Became a law April 8, 1925, with the approval of the Governor. Passed, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. The time within which the Hornell and Dansville Railroad Company, a corporation of this state, may finish its road and put the same in operation is hereby extended for five years from the time this act takes effect, the construction of such road having been begun and ten per centum of the amount of the capital of such company having been expended thereon, or the major portion of such ten per centum, within five years after the incorporation of such company; and the corporate powers and existence of such company are hereby revived for such extended period. notwithstanding the failure of such company heretofore to have finished such road and to have expended all of the ten per centum of its capital as provided by law, within the time required by law; and such powers and corporate existence shall not cease for failure |