ALBANY New York has the highest property taxes in the nation: The New York City suburbs pay the most, while upstate counties pay the most compared to home values.
So New York has all kinds of "gimmicks," as critics would say, to lower property taxes — mainly through a variety of rebate and subsidy programs. The state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo added a $1.3 billion rebate check program late Thursday for middle-class homeowners next year.
The initiatives cost the state billions of dollars a year, and opponents say they mask the underlying problems of burdensome laws and unfunded state mandates on municipalities that lead to higher local taxes.
"Let's just lower taxes. The biggest way we can do that is to lower mandates on our local governments," Sen. Thomas O'Mara, R-Big Flats, Chemung County, said. "Nobody wants to talk about that, least of all the governor."
For his part, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made curbing property taxes a top priority since taking office in 2011.
He's installed a property-tax cap that has cut annual tax increases in half over the past five years, and he's backed a variety of rebate programs that essentially give New Yorkers back their own tax dollars — including the $1.3 billion plan.
"Property taxes are the albatross around the neck of this state when it comes to growth," Cuomo said Thursday. "The state has disproportionately high property taxes, and this $1.3 billion rebate program will actually go a long way towards giving New Yorkers real relief."
The newest program will add a fifth property-tax or tax-rebate initiative in New York. Here's a look at them:
STAR Rebate
The state spends more than $3 billion a year on the STAR rebate program, which provides a break on school taxes. It's the largest property-tax-rebate program in the nation.
Enacted in 1998, STAR provides a partial exemption from school taxes for most homeowners with incomes less than $500,000.
The state's enhanced STAR program provides an additional benefit for senior citizens with incomes of $83,000 or less.
Family Tax Relief Credit
The Family Tax Relief Credit was adopted by Cuomo and the Legislature in 2013. Last year, it provided a $350 check to New Yorkers who had children under 17 when they filed their 2012 taxes and had a household adjusted gross income between $40,000 and $300,000. They also couldn't have any tax liabilities.
More than 1 million checks were mailed out last year. It's a three-year program, and this year and next year the money will be a tax credit when people file their income taxes.
Property-tax freeze
It, too, is a three-year program that includes 2.8 million checks each year costing about $1.5 billion to homeowners for the growth in their property taxes — if their local governments stay under the property-tax cap.
Last year, homeowners received a rebate on school property taxes if their district in May 2014 stayed under the tax cap, which limits the growth in taxes to less than 2 percent a year.
This year, the rebate checks will include the growth in property taxes for schools and local governments. So the checks will be larger: about $200 upstate and $580 in the New York City suburbs.
But the checks will only go to homeowners in communities where their local governments stayed under the tax cap and developed plans to cut the tax levy — the total amount of taxes collected — by 1 percent a year for three years. Those plans were due June 1.
To be eligible, the property must be the homeowner's primary residence and total household income must be $500,000 or less.
Tax rebate checks
This year, Cuomo first proposed a $1.7 billion property-tax-rebate plan that would go to middle-class homeowners and renters.
The deal seemed to falter, but was revived Tuesday in an agreement between Cuomo and legislative leaders.
Instead of a tax credit, Senate Republicans insisted that the money go out next fall — right before the elections for all 213 seats in the Legislature — and go out as a check, not a tax credit. It's a four-year program.
The size of the check will be based in household income. So upstate homeowners who qualify for STAR will receive a rebate check for $185 by Oct. 15, 2016. Those who live in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority region, which includes the lower Hudson Valley and the Poughkeepsie are, get $130.
In the following three years, the rebate checks will be a percentage of the homeowner's STAR exemption, with lower-income households getting a larger percentage than higher earners. Those earning more than $275,000 are ineligible. But in all four years, the checks will only go out to taxpayers living in areas where local governments and schools stayed under the cap.
Property-tax cap
It's a not rebate, but it does limit the growth in property taxes by requiring schools and local governments to seek an override to exceed the cap, which has been below 2 percent growth for the last few years.
The tax cap has been widely popular with voters, particularly in upstate and the New York City suburbs. Cuomo has hailed its success: Prior to the cap, school taxes grew an average 5 percent a year; this year, the average was 1.6 percent.
The cap — which applies to all taxing entities in New York, including schools, municipalities and special districts — was set to expire June 15, 2016.
But as part of rent-control laws Thursday, the cap will be extended until 2020 with some new exemptions for schools and tax payments.
Payments to BOCES and some payments in lieu of taxes may be exempted from the cap under the changes agreed to, but it would up the state Department of Taxation and Finance to rule on the circumstances for each municipality or school.
"The cap's extension was our top priority for the end of session," Heather Briccetti, president of the state Business Council, said in a statement. "While we would like to have seen a permanent extension, we are pleased the leaders passed changes that will help incentivize business investments, while rejecting cap-busting exemptions."
