Changes in NYS STAR program Likely to Cause Angst

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Town, county and fire district tax bills are due April 30th

September 4, 2020

By Barrett Seaman–

When property tax bills go up in Westchester, people notice. They have—and they have.

School tax bills mailed out by Greenburgh in recent weeks show an increase that varies according to district but isn’t due solely to higher property assessments. According to Town Assessor Edye McCarthy and Supervisor Paul Feiner, the culprit is the state and changes it is making to the STAR (School Tax Relief for homeowners earning less than $500,000)) deduction.

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“Many residents have called me asking why their school tax bill has gone up,” Feiner wrote to local news organizations recently. The state, he and McCarthy say, wants to replace the deduction with a check mailed directly to taxpayers, but in an amount less than what they were saving under the old system.

Here’s McCarthy’s explanation of what is happening:

“Over the past several years, the formula that New York State Department of Taxation uses to calculate STAR has changed to the detriment of taxpayers. For example, a resident in the Hastings school district was receiving a $2,359 saving and today, the savings amount is $1,708. That is a 28% reduction in savings. That, along with the school tax rate increases, has placed an increased burden on our residents.”

“It is not going to get any better,” McCarthy writes. “The Governor has offered residents a new program to receive a slightly higher tax savings than what is currently being offered, but this is by way of a check directly from New York State. A property would have to give up their exemption in order to receive the check. This is supposedly going to effectively maintain the savings amount going forward.”

According to the Assessor, the state is now examining each STAR recipient’s record, determining whether they should continue to receive a credit and then informing each municipality’s assessment office whether to continue the deduction or not, “for a reason they will not disclose.”

Because local assessors like McCarthy cannot explain the state’s reasoning, they are referring questions to the New York State STAR hotline (518-457-2036).

“Not only is this going to hurt taxpayers,” adds Supervisor Feiner, “but there is also more administrative overhead—sending out checks requires additional personnel costs.” Moreover, he adds, “taxpayers will be writing a check for a larger amount to pay for their school tax bill before receiving a check in the mail.”

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