Senate Sets Top Priority For 2008 Legislative Session

Albany, N.Y., January 3-- State Senator George H. Winner, Jr. (R-C-I, Elmira) today joined his Senate colleagues to propose a significant expansion of the STAR property tax rebate program and to call for a new commission to recommend long-term strategies to further reduce New York’s property tax burden.

Under the new plan, which Winner said will be a top Senate priority in the 2008 legislative session that begins next week, the total value of the STAR rebate program would grow from an estimated $1 billion this year to $2.2 billion in 2008 and to $3.4 billion in 2009. The average STAR rebate for non-senior homeowners in 2008 would be double the size of this year’s rebate, while the 2009 rebate would triple in size. For senior homeowners, the Senate plan would triple the size of their 2008 rebate, while their 2009 rebate would be roughly four times the current amount.

In 2006, a Senate-led initiative produced approximately $875 million in direct property tax relief through the establishment of the STAR property tax rebate program. The landmark property tax relief initiative has proved beneficial to thousands of taxpayers.

Local county taxpayers would benefit under the Senate’s new plan in the following ways:

> In Chemung County, the average STAR rebate for non-senior county homeowners would rise from this year’s $388 to $776 in 2008 and to $1,165 in 2009, and for senior homeowners from $273 to $820 in 2008 and to 1,093 in 2009;

> In Schuyler, the average non-senior rebate would rise from $337 to $673 in 2008 and to $1,010 in 2009, and for seniors from $229 to $687 in 2008 and to $916 in 2009;

> In Steuben, the average non-senior rebate would increase from $336 to $672 in 2008 and to $1,008 in 2009, and for seniors from $245 to $734 in 2008 and to $978 in 2009;

> In Tompkins, the average non-senior rebate would jump from $377 to $754 in 2008 and to $1,130 in 2009, and for seniors from $251 to $754 in 2008 and to $1,005 in 2009; and

> In Yates, the average non-senior rebate would increase from $266 to $533 in 2008 and to $799 in 2009, and for seniors from $187 to $562 in 2008 and to $749 in 2009.

The Senate’s comprehensive property tax relief plan also includes its NY-STOP (Stop Taxing Our Property) initiative, first unveiled last year, which if enacted would result in the complete elimination of residential school property taxes in school districts that vote to phase out property taxes over five years, with revenue replaced by additional state funding. NY-STOP also calls for imposing an immediate freeze on property tax assessments for seniors, creating a Blue Ribbon Commission on Property Tax Reform to recommend long-term property tax relief strategies, and enacting comprehensive mandate relief measures to help lower costs for school districts and municipalities.