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I beleive that everyone is eligible. It is an automatic rebate on your taxes. I can't explain exactly how it is determined, but you simply pay that much less on your taxes. So if your taxes are 15k a year, you should get a 2K STAR discount, and therefore you will really be paying 13K.
There is also a "Middle Class STAR" discount that you need to apply for and which is income-based--but that is different.
there are two "levels" of STAR, for regular homeowners and for senior citizens. it can only be applied to a primary residence. you can look up your town here:
STAR Exemption Status (http://www.orps.state.ny.us/star/ex/index.htm - broken link)
once you determine what the discount is for your municipality, you deduct that amount from your assessment (varies by municipality; you can call your local assessor to find out what your assessment is) and the resulting number is what your school taxes are figured on.
for example: if your assessment is $100K and your municipality discount is $20K, you subtract the $20K from $100K to get $80K. Your school taxes will be figure on $80K rather than $100K
How STAR operates is clear. What's not clear is why both the enhanced and basic STAR vary so much by town or village or city in Westchester.
Wealth alone doesn't seem to have anything to do with it. Look at Scarsdale ($3,280) vs. Mount Kisco ($38,330) vs. Bronxville ($256,190).
What makes for such great discrepancies???
Here are some of the 25 different basic exemptions for STAR:
City of Peekskill = $7,320
City of White Plains = $6,500
Town of Bedford = $17,020
Village of Bronxville = $256,190
Town of Mamaroneck = $3,510
Town of New Castle = $33,060
Town of Pelham = $173,300
Town of Rye = $205,700
Town of Scarsdale = $3,280
Town of Mount Kisco = $38,330
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Quote:
Originally Posted by somersmom
there are two "levels" of STAR, for regular homeowners and for senior citizens. it can only be applied to a primary residence. you can look up your town here:
STAR Exemption Status (http://www.orps.state.ny.us/star/ex/index.htm - broken link)
not completely sure, but there is no consistency from town to town as to how assessments are figured (full market value vs. a percentage of market value) so that likely accounts for the wide discrepancy.
so someplace like b'ville probably assesses on fmv so you would need to deduct a larger amt. than a town that assesses a percentage of fmv.
this lack of consistency among municipalities across the county has been a problem for a long time, esp. as many school districts cross town lines so trying to make sure residents in different towns get taxed equally in a school district is a nightmare & doesn't work.
the whole county needs to be revalued; but that's a whole 'nother thread!
Wow. Thank you for all of the information. Westchester and LisaZ, thanks for the clarification. Somersmom, your explanation is very helpful, and exactly what I was looking for. And Dave the H, you are so right; it is an amazing discrepancy. I will have to look into it further.
How STAR operates is clear. What's not clear is why both the enhanced and basic STAR vary so much by town or village or city in Westchester.
Wealth alone doesn't seem to have anything to do with it. Look at Scarsdale ($3,280) vs. Mount Kisco ($38,330) vs. Bronxville ($256,190).
What makes for such great discrepancies???
Here are some of the 25 different basic exemptions for STAR:
City of Peekskill = $7,320
City of White Plains = $6,500
Town of Bedford = $17,020
Village of Bronxville = $256,190
Town of Mamaroneck = $3,510
Town of New Castle = $33,060
Town of Pelham = $173,300
Town of Rye = $205,700
Town of Scarsdale = $3,280
Town of Mount Kisco = $38,330
====================
Every town has a different assessment basis as some are based on full value, etc. It goes by how big the population is and how the tax basis needs to be spread out.
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you must be an owner
