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Letter: Greenburgh Town Supervisor On STAR Tax Exemptions

To the Editor:

NYS is requiring taxpayers to renew their STAR registration by the end of the year. Those who do not register will lose their tax exemptions—causing hardship for those who are entitled to STAR. I believe that the state should provide every local government in the state with additional financial resources so we can help maximize compliance with the new registration requirement. I also predict that hundreds of thousands of New Yorker’s could lose their STAR exemption because they threw out the notices they received or because they never received the notification in the mail. The letters the state has been sending to taxpayers was not personalized—many people do not open mail addressed to occupant.

Although registration is being conducted by the state local assessors from around the state are receiving calls from residents who have questions. When it gets closer to December 31 (the registration deadline) many local officials from around the state will feel obligated to send out reminders to residents to register—at local governments expense. After December 31st every elected official in the state will be swamped with calls from very angry taxpayers who forgot to register or don’t recall receiving a notification in the mail.

I have also asked the state to send out personalized reminders to those who have not registered. And, to extend the December 31st deadline for registration. I also believe that NYS employees should telephone those who have not responded- reminding them of the new registration requirement.

The town of Greenburgh has directed our MIS department to put a simple reminder on the bottom of every e mail sent out by all town employees –reminding readers of the requirement to register for STAR. I encourage NYS and county/local governments to do the same.

PAUL FEINER Greenburgh Town Supervisor

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