Responsa for Bava Batra 198:9
דרך היחיד ד' אמות דרך הרבים שש עשרה אמה דרך המלך אין לה שיעור דרך הקבר אין לה שיעור המעמד דייני צפורי אמרו בית ארבעה קבין:
whose banks have been worn away, may be repaired [with the earth] of that field [through which it runs], for it is known that the banks could not have been washed away except into that very field.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence, the earth for reconstruction also may be taken from that field. ');"><sup>15</sup></span> R. Papa demurred: Let the field owner say, [to the owner of the canal]. 'Your water has lowered your ground'!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The water may have carried away the earth of the banks else where. Why should the field owner be expected to supply earth for repair from his field? ');"><sup>16</sup></span>
Teshuvot Maharam
A. The decisions on questions of taxation are dependent more on custom than on talmudic law. The following rule is generally accepted by the communities: In any tax dispute between an individual and the community, the latter first collects the tax and then goes to court. Therefore, even before the tax is collected, the community is considered to be in possession of the tax-money, and the burden of proof falls upon the individual. This is not only an accepted custom, but also good talmudic law, and is operative even in a new community where there are no established customs. But if the community in question has a different custom, that custom prevails, though it be at variance with talmudic law.
This Responsum is addressed to R. Eliakim ha-Kohen.
SOURCES: Pr. 106; Mord. B. B. 522; cf. also Cr. 49; Pr. 708, 915; L. 371; Am II, 130. Agudah B.M. 108; Moses Minz, Responsa 72; Terumat Hadeshen 341.