News
STAR reduction will impact school tax bills
Sept. 18, 2009
Many homeowners will see an increase in their school taxes despite a decrease in the Rotterdam school tax rate. This increase is due to a decrease in the amount of the STAR exemption set by the state. For the second year in a row, state lawmakers have reduced both the basic and enhanced STAR exemptions thereby shifting the costs to the local taxpayer.
A typical Rotterdam resident eligible for the basic STAR exemption in 2008 received a reduction of $37,490. The basic STAR exemption for 2009 is $33,370. Even though the Rotterdam school tax rate dropped from $15.0012 to $14.9356, a typical homeowner would see their tax bill increase by the difference of $61.53 or $4,120 times the tax rate of $14.9356.
School districts have no control over the STAR exemption amounts and do not know what the exemptions will be until after their budgets are voted on in the spring. Despite the increase in taxes, schools do not collect additional revenue because of the change. It is simply a shift of revenue source from the state to the taxpayer.
