CHENANGO COUNTY – Earlier this year when the 2016-17 New York State Budget was passed by Governor Andrew Cuomo changes to the popular N.Y. State-sponsored STAR Tax exemption program were made that will inevitably trickle down to those filing for the rebate for the first time, namely new home owners.

The most obvious difference beginning this year will be the method and timing by which homeowners receive their rebate, which can have a reverberating effect on family finances.

For real property owners who filed for the State's enhanced or basic STAR Exemption after March 2, 2016 at their local assessor’s office, a transition to a new personal income tax (PIT) credit program may complicate the rebate process for some familiar with the process.

Shelly Harris, Town of Sherburne Assessor explains that new STAR applicants, or those re-applying at another primary residence after a sale will receive checks for the amount of their STAR rebate in the mail directly from the State.

“I don't understand why the State government felt a change in the way that the successful rebate is paid out was necessary,” said Harris, whose office is responsible for shouldering the administrative duties of the State's rebate program. “Once the letters go out people are going to be so confused.”

Not only is the new seemingly unnecessary half-measure redundant, but it will require the expenditure of untold thousands of dollars in labor and postage to remove all the exemptions that local assessors have entered in the last year—and to notify taxpayers, another unfunded state mandate placed on local government.

Many of the STAR program beneficiaries in Harris' jurisdiction are elderly homeowners who receive the enhanced rebate, and many of them are going to be calling; looking for answers.