Property Taxes
Enhanced and Basic STAR Exemptions
The Enhanced or Basic STAR exemption is the amount that your assessment will be reduced prior to the levy of school taxes. For example, if you own and live in a house that has an Enhanced STAR exemption and that is assessed at $150,000 and the Enhanced STAR exemption for your municipality is $50,000, the school taxes on your property would be paid on a taxable assessment of $100,000 ($150,000–$50,000). Please note that due to the 2% limit on STAR savings increases, the savings on your individual tax bill may not reflect the entire value of the certified STAR exemption. Click on the following external links to view the most current information:
2023-2024 STAR Exemption Amounts
Maximum 2023-2024 STAR Exemption Savings
What are equalization rates?
An equalization rate is New York State's measure of a municipality's level of assessment.
Total assessed value of municipality
-------------------------------------------- = equalization rate
Total market value of municipality
Why equalization rates are necessary in New York State:
- Each municipality determines its own level of assessment (this is in contrast to most states that require one level of assessment statewide)
- Hundreds of taxing jurisdictions - including most school districts and counties - do not share the same taxing boundaries as the cities and towns that are responsible for assessing properties
In order to distribute school district or county taxes among multiple municipalities, the level of assessment of each municipality must be equalized to full market value.
Total assessed value of municipality
-------------------------------------------- = full market value of municipality
equalization rate for municipality