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60% vs 7.5% is some kind of a difference. Why are they calculating it based on income when what you pay in property tax is not based on that at all?
I'm sure it's based on "perceived need". It's supposed to be a 'relief' check, as in 'mitigating hardship' and they feel (rightly, IMHO) that if you're making more than $200K a year you probably don't "need" much help paying your property taxes.
Of course there are mitigating circumstances from household to household (someone could be pulling down $300K but have ongoing financial obligations that eat up 2/3 of that) but if they're basing it on probable need it's as good a breakdown as any.
Personally I think there should be an additional lower category, for incomes of less than $50K and a 75% ratio. And that seniors should definitely get a higher ratio than 26%! Most seniors are relying only on Social Security for their entire income, and there's data to support that.
"Almost a quarter of married couples and more than 40% of unmarried senior citizens rely on Social Security for fully 90% of their income in retirement."
When the average SS benefit amount is only $1368, that's less than $16,500 per year. So the relief check for seniors should either be divided by income (more or less than $40K, for example) with a higher percentage for the under $40K contingent, or raised across the board from 26% to 50%.
and not even asking why they're even paying in the first place (you gotta pay to get the rebate, LoL)
Asking why? That ship has sailed long ago...
BTW, everyone should google your own districts' school budgets disclosure. The numbers for salary & benefits are eye-popping. Ours comes out to $110k per teacher for salary, PLUS another $120k per teacher for benefits. $80mil right there per year. No other line items even come close to these expenditures (no, not even the handful of superintendents or their support staff!). FTE = per full time employee
It's funny how everyone on local FB groups dance around this answer to why we're paying so much in school taxes alone. And the odd person will say just strike down the proposed budget. THAT will do little to nothing for the specific numbers I just referenced. I would find it amazing if anyone who hasn't/doesn't benefit from those numbers could honestly defend what they're getting.
You have the answer as to why we pay so much. Now give us the answer to how to strike it down legitimately & effectively. F greedy unions.
The entire state gets the star as long as you make under 500k.
Well, as long as it's the person's primary residence. According to the NYS website:
Eligible types of property:
houses, condominiums, cooperative apartments, manufactured homes, and farm houses
mixed-use properties, including apartment buildings (but only the owner-occupied portion)
Eligible homeowners:
Some factors that help determine whether a property is your primary residence include
voting,
vehicle registrations, and
length of time spent each year on the property.
The Tax Department may also request proof of residency.
Also if the property was bought after August 1, 2015, the owner has to register for the STAR credit; it's not automatic. If the paperwork wasn't submitted to NYS they won't be on the STAR 'rolls.'
ShirlMasticBeach, you can look up whether or not you received STAR in 2017 here:
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