What The New York State STAR Program Means To You

Governor Pataki's School TAx Relief program (STAR) provides a partial exemption from school property taxes for owner-occupied, primary residences such as homes, condominiums, cooperative apartments and mobile / manufactured homes.

Senior citizens (age 65 and older) with yearly incomes of $60.000 or less must register every year, because they receive a higher reduction (enhanced STAR). To qualify for the enhanced STAR exemption, one of the owners must be at least 65 years of age. Their combined annual income, however must not exceed $60,000.

Beginning in 2000, STAR was extended to all other New Yorkers. Homeowners under age 65 or those over age 65, who do not meet the requirements outlined above, will see their school taxes cut by an average of approximately 27 percent. This is known as the basic STAR exemption.

To receive your STAR tax cut, you must file an application with your local property assessor. The telephone number and address of your assessor can be found in the "Blue Pages" of your telephone directory or by calling toll-free 1-800-NYSTAR5 (1-800-697-8275 ). The application also can be found on the Internet home page of the New York State Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) at: http://www.orps.state.ny.us. or by clicking here.

You must file your application with your assessor before the deadline in your area. Some counties have different deadline dates. The homeowner must provide proof of ownership (deed or bill of sale) and proof of residency, as requested by the assessor. For the enhanced STAR exemption, the homeowner must also provide proof of age and proof of income annually (copies of federal or state income tax forms). The owner of the mobile / manufactured community is responsible (by law) for crediting the tax savings against the rent payable on the home that has received the exemption. If you want to know what that amount is check with your assessor.

One question that has been asked is, can they make us pay our own taxes? The answer to that is no, it must be a law. The owner is allowed to take from the amount of your reduction 2 percent for administration fees. If the owner does not follow through on your reduction he can, by state law, be fined. Please let us know if this happens to you.

Download a PDF version of the Application for School Tax Relief Exemption

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