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, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

aimed at reducing school district

property taxes A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') 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 we ...

on the

primary residence A person's primary residence, or main residence is the dwelling where they usually live, typically a house or an apartment. A person can only have one ''primary'' residence at any given time, though they may share the residence with other people. A ...

s 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 A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "dis ...

there after for new applicants. The program, which acts similarly to (but is much less extensive than)

homestead exemption The homestead exemption is a legal regime to protect the value of the homes of residents from property taxes, creditors, and circumstances that arise from the death of the homeowner's spouse, disability, or other situations. Such laws are found ...

s in other states, was enacted on August 7, 1997, a product of the annual

budget A budget is a calculation plan, usually but not always financial plan, financial, for a defined accounting period, period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including tim ...

of then-

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

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984 ...

. 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 citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

s at or above age 65, exempts an annually variable amount ($65,300 for the 2015-2016

school year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classes and do rel ...

) 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), 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 school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

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 municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, 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 In the United States income tax system, adjusted gross income (AGI) is an individual's total gross income minus specific deductions. It is used to calculate taxable income, which is AGI minus allowances for personal exemptions and itemized d ...

that does not exceed $86,300. Proof of age is required upon initial application.

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)