STAR Program update 05/23/19

We have multiple announcements regarding the STAR Program to share with you today.

Mark your calendar

To recap the 2019 STAR Program changes and answer your questions, we’ll hold informational webinars from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. on the following dates:

• Wednesday, May 29
• Tuesday, June 4

The content of each webinar will be the same. Stay tuned for connection instructions later this week.

Letters to STAR applicants with incomes between $250,000 and $500,000

Next week, we’ll begin to send letters to property owners impacted by the new Basic STAR exemption income limit.

As you know, beginning with 2019, changes in the law reduced the Basic STAR income limit to $250,000. However, the income limit for the STAR credit continues to be $500,000.

We are automatically registering impacted property owners for the STAR credit using information they previously provided to us when registering for the STAR exemption or a STAR-related benefit. Some property owners will receive letters asking them to update their registration, but most will not need to take any action in order to switch to the STAR credit. 

We will share copies of the letters with you before the mailing begins.

As always, the letters advise property owners to contact us, not their assessor.

Streamlined process for switching to the STAR credit from the exemption

To switch to the STAR credit from the exemption, property owners no longer need to renounce their exemption using Form RP-496.

We added new options to the beginning of the STAR credit registration online application. Homeowners are now guided to choose from three options:

• Update Registration
• Make the Switch
• Register for STAR

If the property owner selects Make the Switch:

• we’ll include the property in a new report (available in late June for standard calendar municipalities), and
• you’ll remove the STAR exemption from the final assessment roll.

You will not need to:

• use correction of errors or the board of assessment review to remove the exemptions, and
• you will not need to send notices to the property owners.

Deadline to switch

To help property owners know whether they’ll switch to the STAR credit for the current year or 2020, we published a new lookup tool: Deadline to switch to the STAR credit from the STAR exemption.

The deadline is generally two weeks prior to final roll date. (For localities that levy school taxes on the prior year roll, the deadline is four weeks prior to the date that school tax bills are issued.)

Note: In the event that, after the deadline, property owners wish to switch to the STAR credit for this year, they should be informed that doing so will make it less likely that they will receive their check for the 2019 STAR credit prior to the school tax due date. However, if a taxpayer wishes to do so, they will need to:

• renounce their exemption using Form RP-496, and
• register for the STAR credit.

To view the updated registration application

Visit Register for the STAR credit, scroll down, and select Register.