NORWICH – According to Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s executive budget proposal released Tuesday, a scheduled increase in the STAR rebate for middle class taxpayers would be delayed one year in an effort to tighten spending.
Despite the delay, the governor’s plan still calls for an overall $134 million increase in STAR rebate funding over last year.
Started by former Gov. George Pataki, STAR is meant to relieve school tax burdens on seniors and middle class property owners.
The promised 17 percent rebate increase would add $65 on average to STAR checks for the middle-class participants in Chenango County, according to Spitzer’s office. If held up until 2010-11, that translates into a total of $673,910 that won’t be divided amongst the county’s 10,214 receiving that exemption in 2008-09, according to figures provided by the county Office of Real Property Tax Service.
Spitzer’s budget, not yet approved by the Legislature, would however dole out $91 million more to senior STAR recipients, a 40 percent increase. In the county, where there are currently 2,857 senior STAR exemptions, the average rebate would go from $327 to $458, according to the real property tax office.
The delayed rebate hike has Republicans in the state Senate, including Senator Tom Libous (R-Binghamton), concerned.
“I have some serious concerns,” said Libous, speaking of the governor’s budget in general. “One of my biggest concerns is that the Governor has scaled back the STAR property tax rebate program by hundred of millions of dollars. We agreed on the $1.8 billion STAR program last year and now the governor has decided to make changes. The people of Broome, Tioga and Chenango counties are counting on that STAR rebate. It’s direct money back in their pockets.”
In all, the governor is providing for $5 billion in funding to the STAR program, an increase of $134 million over last year, according to his office.
Spitzer decided to delay the 17 percent middle class STAR increase because property taxes overall have continued to rise at an “unacceptable” rate. The move, paired with a Personal Income Tax Credit delay for some New York City residents, would save $354 million, his office claims.
“Despite the significant progress we made in last year’s budget with the Middle Class STAR program, property taxes have still continued to increase at an unacceptable and unsustainable rate,” said Governor Spitzer. “A fair and effective property tax cap, in concert with efforts to reduce local government costs, represents the right approach for finally tackling the root causes of high property taxes.”
Republicans in the Senate are proposing a bill that would double and triple STAR rebates for residential homeowners and seniors. It would also phase out school taxes in the next five years for homeowners and replace their contributions with state aid.
Spitzer, in his budget, has called for the formation of a commission to examine the reasons for high property taxes and come up with recommendations to relieve them. That includes a “fair” cap on school taxes, Spitzer said.