Basic STAR recipients in Orleans County urged to re-register

During a visit to Medina today, Senator George Maziarz and Assemblyman Steve Hawley urged Basic STAR recipients in Orleans County to re-register for the popular school tax savings program in order to continue receiving benefits.

The one-time re-registration requirement for the Basic STAR program was included in the 2013-2014 state budget as a means of eliminating fraud and abuse among current recipients.  The registration deadline is December 31, 2013 in order to continue receiving the exemption in 2014 and thereafter.

The state legislators also announced that as of November 13, 2013, nearly one-third of Basic STAR recipients in Orleans County (31%) have not yet re-registered.

“We don’t want a single homeowner to miss out on this important savings on their school tax bill,” Senator Maziarz said.  “We are doing all we can to publicly urge Basic STAR recipients to re-register because there are still more than 2,500 households in Orleans County alone that haven’t done so yet.”

Assemblyman Hawley said, “Time is running out for local homeowners to access the property tax relief they need and deserve.  Locally, the Basic STAR exemption translates to nearly $660 in savings on average for homeowners.  Our families deserve to keep that money, and I urge everyone who relies on this critical program to re-register as soon as possible before the December 31^st deadline.”

There are several ways eligible homeowners can re-register: 

·        Online.  Visit www.tax.ny.gov.

·        Over the phone.  Call (518) 457-2036.

To re-register, homeowners will need the personalized STAR Code that was mailed to them earlier this fall by the State Tax Department.  If the letter containing the code was misplaced, homeowners can still re-register by answering several property-specific questions through the various points of contact listed above.

Senior citizens receiving an Enhanced STAR exemption are not required to re-register.

According to the NYS Tax Department, as of November 13^th the following percentages of Basic STAR recipients have not re-registered to continue receiving the exemption: 

Town of Albion—31%

Town of Barre—31%

Town of Carlton—34%

Town of Clarendon—29%

Town of Gaines—32%

Town of Kendall—28%

Town of Murray—33%

Town of Ridgeway—32%

Town of Shelby—32%

Town of Yates—33%

All Orleans County—31%

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