438 Rye Residents Claim STAR Benefit But Do Not Qualify
Here is a real gem, courtesy of LoHud.com.
Starting back in 2011, New York State limited state's STAR program – where homeowners receive school property-tax subsidies – to households earning less than $500,000. But apparently the State has no way or no current inclination to track down the 438 folks in Rye receiving a STAR benefit who do not qualify beause of their high income:
"Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration, meanwhile, lacks a credible plan to recover the taxpayer assets it bestowed on the [Jules] Kroll family and many other wealthy New Yorkers from 2011 to 2014. During those years, the Krolls received $3,024 in school property-tax subsidies through the state's STAR program, to which they were not eligible. STAR since 2011 was limited to households earning less than $500,000.
The Krolls' 2013 property-tax bill alone – $674,000 – on their 15-acre waterfront Parsonage Point compound exceeded the $500,000 income-limit. The tax bill on their five homes valued at $37 million was $1,028 less, thanks to state taxpayers…
The Krolls were knocked off the STAR rolls this year, along with 437 others in Rye – 22 percent of the city's STAR recipients. It was part of the effort to bring the state in compliance with the STAR reform, saving taxpayers an estimated $100 million…
Since Tax Watch reported on Kroll's STAR a month ago – along with 102 other Rye residents with STAR exemptions and homes valued at more than $2 million – Kroll said he hasn't heard from anyone to recover the money…
Rye Assessor Noreen Whitty, who said the city would search for the Krolls' STAR application, said she had no intention of asking the Krolls to repay the state's STAR subsidies. She said the city gets an annual list of STAR recipients to remove from its records, but the state provides no reason for the removal.
"It's not practical," she said. "I don't have access to their tax returns. I don't see that I'm in a position to ask for the state's money back.""
