By Sarah Hall
Editor
According to Lysander Assessor Theresa Golden, one of the most troubling actions to come out of the state legislature in recent months is one no one is talking about.
As part of the 2016-17 budget, New York state eliminated its STAR exemption program. Basic STAR exempted the first $30,000 in school taxes for homeowners whose total household income is less than $500,000, while Enhanced STAR exempted those 65 and older with qualifying incomes from the first $65,300 in school taxes.
Under the new legislation, however, the STAR program has been converted to an income tax credit. Now, first-time home buyers or those purchasing a new home will pay their school taxes in full up front and receive a credit on their income taxes.
“Existing property owners will be grandfathered in,” Golden said, “but if you move, you lose it.”
And it doesn’t just affect those who bought a house in 2016.
“The state made the legislation retroactive, so if you made a purchase after March 1, 2015, and made an application for 2015—which affects 375 exemptions in Lysander—you will lose the exemption and it will be turned into the state rebate check program,” Golden said.
According to the state, the change will allow schools to collect the revenue faster, as they’ll receive the full amount when it’s paid instead of waiting for the state to reimburse them for the exempted amount. But Golden said the move will negatively affect people across the state.
“Our concern is that they went backwards with it,” Golden said. “People that planned on having those exemptions and made the applications through our office are now responsible for their entire school tax bill. They were counting on that savings.”
Golden said STAR savings vary widely by district, but the average in Central New York is $715 for Basic STAR and double that for Enhanced STAR.
Golden said the state has provided a number that will be active in two weeks to answer any questions about the change to the STAR program: 518-457-2036.
“It’s a big change, and no one’s talking about it,” she said.
State of the town
Also at the town board meeting, Saraceni gave a presentation on the State of the Town, which he said he intends to be an annual affair.
“It’s important for the residents of the town to get an understanding of where we’ve been [and] where we are now and to get a glimpse of what we’re looking at into the future,” Saraceni said.
Saraceni said he worked with town comptroller David Rahrle to dig into the town’s records to pull the presentation together. The report included data on the town’s demographics, assessments, budget, fund balance, highways and parks, looking back as far as 1972 for some information.
In addition, the presentation included some measures Lysander hopes to undertake in the coming months to offset costs and generate revenue, including putting a solar farm on an abandoned dump site the town maintains, bringing in an intern from SUNY-ESF to do a timber assessment on public lands within the town’s borders, establishing partnerships with private companies to fund parks initiatives and developing cooperative agreements with neighboring municipalities.
“We’re trying to make some lemonade out of some lemons here,” Saraceni said. “We’ve got a great staff here with some great ideas. We’re always looking for ways to generate some revenue and save money.”
McMahon resigns
The board accepted the resignation of Elaine McMahon as town clerk. McMahon, who was deputy town clerk under Lisa Dell and took over for Dell when she became Onondaga County Clerk, is moving to the Van Buren Town Court.
Dell spoke before the board to bid good luck to her former deputy.
“She has a wonderful reputation in our community, and that’s why she was sought out for this position,” Dell said, holding back tears. “I wish you the best.”
The town is advertising for a new town clerk.
