The New York State School Tax Relief Program (more commonly known as the STAR Program), or New York State Real Property Tax Law §425, is a school tax rebate program offered in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

aimed at reducing school district

property taxes A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...

on the primary residences of New York residents. In New York City, the STAR Program is a

tax exemption Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...

for those who applied before Fiscal Year 2015-2016 and a tax credit there after for new applicants. The program, which acts similarly to (but is much less extensive than) homestead exemptions in other states, was enacted on August 7, 1997, a product of the annual

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

of then-

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

George Pataki. The STAR Program takes two forms: the Basic STAR and the Enhanced STAR. The Basic STAR is open to the primary residence of any New York State resident and exempts $30,000 from the true value of a home or property. The Enhanced STAR, for eligible senior citizens at or above age 65, exempts an annually variable amount ($65,300 for the 2015-2016 school year) from the true value of their primary residence. Essentially, the program is aimed to lower the tax burden on school district residents. This does not affect the overall revenue of a given school district; the difference is made up by the state, essentially making the program another source of state aid. The STAR rebate is subtracted from the "true value" of the home in question. The true value of a home is the value determined at the time of the last property assessment (typically done by a town or county

assessor An assessor may be: * ''Assessor'' (fish), a genus of fishes * Assessor (law), the assistant to a judge or magistrate * Assessor (Oxford), a senior officer of the University of Oxford * Assessor (property), an expert who calculates the value of pr ...

), divided by an equalization rate, which is the ratio of assessed value to market value for each taxing jurisdiction, as calculated by the State of New York. Equalization rates are used because assessments are not done each year by town or county officials. In addition,

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

s typically do not have the same boundaries as other taxing jurisdictions (cities and towns), so equalization calculations are needed to bring property values to the same levels within all neighboring

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, included in a given district. To be eligible for the Enhanced STAR, a primary resident age 65 or older must have an adjusted gross income that does not exceed $86,300. Proof of age is required upon initial application.

June 2022

In June 2022 a second set of checks were mailed. The explanatory note enclosed with these unusual checks comes with a paragraph that begins with the name of the governor, who is up for re-election. Unlike prior checks, with "Pay To The Order Of" (Husband's name first, if applicable, then an ampersand, followed if applicable, by the wife's) this second check, has the wife's name first, and "OR" was used instead of an ampersand.

References

{{reflist

External links

STAR Program HomepageNew York State Assessor's Manual, Vol 4 (2009 Revisions)
*List of curren

Education in New York (state) Property taxes Taxation in New York (state)