Property Taxes & STAR Tax Credit ?

[nicholebydesign]

[quote=captkaos10;16821613]

Originally Posted by nicholebydesign

Land Record Viewer

Thanks! But this is only for Nassau; I could not find one for Suffolk...

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by rocafeller05

Question...

Say you close on a home right before the new year. Will the buyer still get the STAR for that year? What if you close after the deadline for submitting the STAR application?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, STAR does not transfer with the sale of the house.
Nassau County has two tax bills, one for school taxes and one for general taxes, and they are issued at different times. Suffolk County does not issue tax bills directly - the different Towns do, and it's one bill only; Of course then there are Village taxes which are separate and another story entirely

It the seller has already paid taxes for the remainder of the then current tax year, the buyer can benefit from the existing STAR exemption because the buyer reimburses the seller for the taxes paid.

Example:
I'm in the Town of Huntington. Taxes are assessed from December 1st through November 30th. The first half is due at the beginning of January and the second half in May.
Let's say you buy my house and we close in July 2011. I've already paid the taxes with STAR for my second half in May of 2011, so you'd be reimbursing me my already paid portion through November 2011. In this example you benefit from my STAR exemption for the period from closing date through November 2011. That would be part of your closing costs, one reason closing cost can be high.

After closing, you should file for STAR right away, because it's easy to forget later on.
Anyway, in the above example, you'd be applying with a deadline in March 2012 for the tax bill period December 2012 - November 2013. The tax bill for December 2011 - November 2012 will be without STAR.

Hope I didn't make the explanation too complicated

[jadidonato]

Originally Posted by Elke Mariotti

As I mentioned in an earlier post, STAR does not transfer with the sale of the house.
Nassau County has two tax bills, one for school taxes and one for general taxes, and they are issued at different times. Suffolk County does not issue tax bills directly - the different Towns do, and it's one bill only; Of course then there are Village taxes which are separate and another story entirely

It the seller has already paid taxes for the remainder of the then current tax year, the buyer can benefit from the existing STAR exemption because the buyer reimburses the seller for the taxes paid.

Example:
I'm in the Town of Huntington. Taxes are assessed from December 1st through November 30th. The first half is due at the beginning of January and the second half in May.
Let's say you buy my house and we close in July 2011. I've already paid the taxes with STAR for my second half in May of 2011, so you'd be reimbursing me my already paid portion through November 2011. In this example you benefit from my STAR exemption for the period from closing date through November 2011. That would be part of your closing costs, one reason closing cost can be high.

After closing, you should file for STAR right away, because it's easy to forget later on.
Anyway, in the above example, you'd be applying with a deadline in March 2012 for the tax bill period December 2012 - November 2013. The tax bill for December 2011 - November 2012 will be without STAR.

Hope I didn't make the explanation too complicated

Makes sense... ok now forget STAR. Lets say I buy a house on 12/31. Am I stuck with the current assessed value for 2011 or will the town/county re-evaluate the taxes and apply the correct rate?

i.e. House is currently taxed assessed at $575,000 which equals $12,000 for 2011 tax year. The home is currently valued and purchased at $275,000 therefore the taxes would be significantly lower. Am I stuck paying the $12,000 for the first year?

Elke - Thanks for all the great help btw! I really appreciate it!

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by jadidonato

Lets say I buy a house on 12/31. Am I stuck with the current assessed value for 2011 or will the town/county re-evaluate the taxes and apply the correct rate?

i.e. House is currently taxed assessed at $575,000 which equals $12,000 for 2011 tax year. The home is currently valued and purchased at $275,000 therefore the taxes would be significantly lower. Am I stuck paying the $12,000 for the first year?

Most likely .

With that kind of value disparity, it sounds like a short sale or other distressed property, i.e. Estate sale, in which case the sales price isn't usually taken at "face value".

Timing here can be very important either way. In Suffolk, different Towns may have different cut-offs for re-assessment of the coming year's taxes. What you can do, is go to the appropriate Tax Assessor, show your documentation, and ask for a review outside the regular grieving period. If you're lucky, they may make an adjustment without you having to go through the normal grieving procedure. However, they are not obligated to grant the reduction retroactively...

Also, please keep in mind that when you grieve in May of 2011 for your RE tax assessment for 2012, they're looking at value in July of 2010. Those are the dates for the Town of Huntington - won't guarantee that it's the same in other Towns in Suffolk County.