NY STATE REPRESENTATIVE WILL BE AT TOWN BOARD MEETING TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23) FROM 7 TO 7:30 PM to discuss the new procedures for registering for STAR. They are going to stay after the presentation to assist anyone who needs help signing up for the exemption. If you can’t make the meeting we televise Town Board meetings on public access TV.
YOU MUST REGISTER FOR STAR BY DECEMBER 31 IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THE STAR TAX BREAKS
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.Letters from the state advising of this requirement are not individualized—they are addressed to ‘property owner’ (not personalized). I am concerned that some people will throw the letter out by mistake. Senior citizens receiving ENHANCED STAR DO NOT NEED TO REGISTER. The STAR exemption is available for owner occupied, primary residences where the combined income of resident owners and their spouses is $500,000 or less.
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If you misplaced the registration form you can call 518 457 2036. . To complete the form (which only takes a few minutes) you need a STAR code, the social security number of all owners of the property, whether the combined income of owners and spouses was less than $500,000 and info about any residency based exemptions in other states received by any of the resident owners.
I have written to the Governor’s office, our State Legislators requesting that local governments be provided with some financial help from Albany so we can add resources to our offices – to help maximize compliance with the new STAR registration requirement.
Although registration is being conducted by the state our local offices are receiving calls from residents who have questions. When it gets closer to December 31 (the registration deadline), many local officials around the state will feel obligated to send out reminders to residents to register. After December 31st we will be swamped with calls from those who forgot to register or don't recall receiving a notification in the mail.
I have also asked the state to send out personalized reminders to those who have not registered. And, to extend the December 31st deadline of registering. I also believe that NYS should telephone those who have not responded- reminding them of the new registration requirement. There is a good chance that thousands of people who are qualified for the tax breaks won’t receive them because they failed to register.
LETTERS I RECEIVED FROM CONSTITUENTS WHO HAVE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE NEW REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT—HAVE NOT RECEIVED LETTERS FROM STATE, DATA PROBLEMS
From: Linda (I deleted e mail address)
Sent: Friday, October 18, 2013 9:45 PM
To: Paul Feiner
Subject: Re: DON'T THROW LETTER FROM NYS DEPT OF TAXATION AWAY IF YOU WANT TO RECEIVE ...
Hi Paul,
Do you know if all the letters for STAR have been mailed out? It seems everyone I know has received their's; but unfortunately, I have not. Should I wait a bit more or should I call the number in your email?
Linda
From: Laurie
Sent: Sunday, October 20, 2013 7:46 AM
To: Paul Feiner
Subject: RE: NEW REQUIREMENT THAT TAXPAYERS REGISTER FOR STAR IS ANOTHER COSTLY UNFUNDED MANDATE--LOCALITIES SHOULD BE REIMBURSED..
Just so you are aware, some parts of Greenburgh never got their letters. In my complex - Scarsdale Woods -only a few have received them. In my household, we read every piece of mail and knew that the letters were marked "Occupant" and looked like mass mailings. Ours never came.....
I did our registration on line. There are still individuals who are not able to do so and really need that letter. It seems sneaky to not have owners' names on such an important document and/or not to send them.
Thanks for letting me express my frustration with New York State.
Sincerely,
Laurie
From: Sent: Monday, October 14, 2013 5:08 PM
To: Paul Feiner
Subject: Re: NEW REQUIREMENT THAT TAXPAYERS REGISTER FOR STAR IS ANOTHER COSTLY UNFUNDED MANDATE--LOCALITIES SHOULD BE REIMBURSED..
Agree with you totally that state should send a confirm. I did this on my tablet and didn't print the final product with the confirm #. Then did it(believe it or not) a second time and I didn't even get an error that it was already done. It allowed to re enter the same data again. At that point I printed the final report with confirm #.
One other point, I initially made a mistake by inputting one letter incorrectly for my registration code and it gave me someone else's address. I could have easily filled in my data with that address. Doesn't sound too kosher. I'm concerned someone will mess with my registration #.
Paul you should look into and mention to the Governor about this loosely set up program. There appear to be many holes in it. Thanks. Big fan.
What are your experiences with the new registration requirement?
Paul Feiner
