By Dan Murphy
Westchester homeowners and New York State taxpayers are receiving their annual tax rebate checks in the mail this month, if you haven’t already received them. The average rebate check is $350 and is always a welcome addition to every mailbox in the county, as families can argue how to spend it.
This year, the rebated checks started going out several weeks earlier than usual. Typically, New Yorkers have seen their tax rebate checks delivered in October, just in time for the November elections and just in time for all of us to realize what good public servants our state elected officials are.
So why are more than two New York homeowners getting the checks more than three weeks earlier this year? The NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, which sends out the checks, stated that the program that determines your refund is working better this year.
“We have three years of experience behind us, better cooperation between the department and local officials, improved computer systems and business processes,” said spokesperson Cary Ziter.
Others believe there is a political motivation to the early present in our mailboxes. The race for governor this year includes a Democratic primary Sept. 13, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo challenged by Cynthia Nixon.
“The governor has been shameless in the use of his office to aid his reelection campaign,” said Nixon spokeswoman Lauren Hitt. “He’s used taxpayer funds to send out mailers touting his record and used state vehicles to hand out campaign signs – this is just the latest.”
The Republican candidate for governor, Marc Molinaro, said that instead of the rebate checks, the state should lower taxes. “Now your own money is being returned as a political payoff,” he said. “That’s just a gimmick.”
The Cuomo camp says nonsense to all of the rumors and theories about the rebate checks. “By design, this is a prospective tax credit that is helping New York property taxpayers to pay their September school tax bill,” said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi. “Anyone spouting these silly conspiracy theories has clearly watched one too many episodes of the ‘X Files.’”
Here are more details on the property tax relief credit, not to be confused with the STAR rebate: Checks are mailed out to homeowners whose adjusted gross income is $275,000 or less; homeowners are available to receive a rebate check if you live in a school district that complied with the state’s property tax cap; and Cuomo and the State Legislature started the four-year program in 2016 at a total cost of $1.3 billion.
In the first year of the program, the rebate was $130 to $185. Now the rebate is based on a percentage of what you get back each year in the STAR rebate program, which is a different rebate than the property tax relief credit. The property tax relief credit and check in the mail is based on your income. If you make less than $75,000, your credit and check will be 60 percent of your STAR credit. The higher your income, the lower your rebate. You don’t receive a check or a rebate if you earn more than $275,000 per year.
The STAR rebate program, which started under Gov. George Pataki in the 1990s, is taken directly off your school property taxes if you pay your taxes through your mortgage, so you don’t see a physical check unless your home is paid off and you directly pay your school property taxes. The STAR exemption depends on how much your school taxes are, and the amount of the rebate check will depend on your income.
Good government groups say the credits and rebates are confusing to the taxpayers and voters. “The timing of the rebates right before the primary has rightfully garnered some attention, but the bigger issue is that this is a $1 billion-plus program and it is completely unnecessary,” said David Friedfel, director of state studies for the Citizens Budget Commission.
“This tax credit was a farcical program when it began, but the idea that it is being manipulated to potentially boost incumbents before the New York primary should be the last straw,” said Ken Girardin, a fiscal analyst with the Empire Center for Public Policy.
Another suggestion for the use of the rebates is to pay for local governments’ Medicaid costs, currently paid for by county governments. “We continue to advocate that the best way to stabilize and reduce the property tax burden in New York State is for the state to take more fiscal responsibility for the programs and services it requires county and local governments to fund and service,” said Mark LaVigne, spokesman for the NYS Association of Counties.
In Westchester, only City of Yonkers residents will not receive a rebate check this year. The Yonkers Public Schools are funded out of the City of Yonkers budget and there are no separate budgets, or budget votes by the public. In June, Mayor Mike Spano and the Yonkers City Council approved a budget with a 6.1 percent property tax increase, so homeowners will not get a rebate check this year.
