Category Archives: Outreach

STAR Tax Exemption Registration

More than 1.7 million New York homeowners have registered for their Basic STAR property tax exemptions.   The enrollment deadline for claiming the STAR Tax Exemption is December 31, 2013.  More than 900,000 homeowners have yet to register.   The Tax Department is sending multiple mailings and participating in hundreds of local events to ensure  that everyone who is eligible registers and continues to receive the exemption.

Two types of STAR exemptions:

Basic STAR — available for owner-occupied, primary residences where the resident owners’ and their spouses income is less than $500,000 exempts the first $30,000 of the full value of a home from school taxes

Enhanced STAR — provides an increased benefit for the primary residences of senior citizens (age 65 and older) with qualifying incomes exempts the first $64,200 of the full value of a home from school taxes as of 2014-15 school tax bills (up from $63,300 in 2013-14)Continue reading→

Host World Book Night at Your Library

World Book Night (WBN) “is dedicated to spreading the love of reading, person to person.” The 2014 culminating event — givers each distributing free books to 20 people in their communities — will be April 23rd. Applications to be a host library or giver are due January 5, 2014.

What is WBN? 

“Each year, 30- 35 books are chosen by an independent panel of librarians and booksellers. The authors of the books waive their royalties and the publishers agree to pay the costs of producing the specially-printed World Book Night U.S. editions. Bookstores and libraries sign up to be community host locations for the volunteer book givers. After the book titles are announced, members of the public apply to personally hand out 20 copies of a particular title in their community. World Book Night U.S. vets the applications, and the givers are chosen based on their ability to reach light and non-readers. The selected givers choose a local participating bookstore or library from which to pick up the 20 copies of their book, and World Book Night U.S. delivers the books to these host locations. Givers pick up their books in the week before World Book Night. On April 23rd, they give their books to those who don’t regularly read and/or people who don’t normally have access to printed books, for reasons of means or geography.”Continue reading→