It's Time To File For STAR
Suffolk County homeowners who qualify for property-tax exemptions this year, including the state's new School Tax Relief (STAR) program, have until Monday to file their applications with the East Hampton and Southampton Town Assessors offices. The deadline is for all applicants - senior citizens, those with disabilities, veterans, and clergy.
The STAR exemption applies only to the school-tax part of the property tax bill, not to the county, town, or village portions, and is only for a property owner's primary residence.
Who Is Eligible
This year, only senior citizens with household incomes less than $60,000 can receive extra tax relief under the STAR program. The program will not begin benefiting seniors earning more than $60,000 and homeowners younger than 65 until next year; they will need to file applications by March 1, 1999.
Low-income senior citizens 65 and older - those who earn $26,900 or less - who already qualify for a partial property tax exemption, do not have to file a separate application this year to receive the "enhanced" STAR exemption.
Those earning between $26,900 and $60,000, though, may be eligible for the enhanced STAR program, provided the combined income of all owners of the property, including spouses and children, is not more than $60,000. Only one spouse has to be 65 or older.
Roughly 4,000 seniors have already filed applications here, Jeanne Nielsen, an East Hampton Town Assessor, said this week, and most have been granted their first STAR exemption. Only a few, about 25, have been denied.
Information Online
The amount of tax savings will appear on homeowners' 1998-99 tax bill, but those anxious to know sooner can enter their home address on a new STAR Web site, http://www.state.ny.us . The site also has answers to frequently asked questions about the STAR program. Senior citizens who do not have access to a home computer can log on at a local public library.
To qualify for the program, applicants must show proof of their age, ownership, primary residency (the address on their income tax returns), and income, including their 1997 tax returns. Decisions will be delayed until April 15 for those whose tax returns have not yet been completed.
Aid To Schools
"Some people are reluctant to share their tax information," Ms. Nielsen said, noting though that assessors keep the information strictly confidential.
State officials have estimated that the new exemptions, to be phased in over four years, will cut the school-tax portion of local property taxes on most owner-occupied, primary residences by about a fourth.
Gov. George E. Pataki has promised additional state aid to school districts to make up for funds lost to public school districts through the STAR exemptions.
Applications are in the East Hampton Assessors office at 300 Pantigo Place, suite 108, and the Southampton Assessor's office at Southampton Town Hall, 116 Hampton Road.