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Join the Star Program
STAR is Governor Pataki's School Tax Relief program
that 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. This is called the Enhanced
STAR Exemption. For property owned by
husband and wife, only one of them must be at least 65
years of age to qualify. Their combined annual
income, however must not exceed $60,000.
Beginning with school year and 2000, STAR is 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,
when STAR is fully implemented in school year
2001-02. 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
application also can be found on the Internet home page
of the New York State Office of Real of Real Property Services ( ORPS ) at:
http://www.orps.state.ny.us.
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 copies
of federal or state income tax forms).
The owner of the Mobile/Manufactured Housing 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 be fined, by state law.
Please let us know if this happens to you.
