With Many STAR Rebate Checks Officially 5 Months Late, Hudson Valley Senators Continue Push for Rebate Check Reform

PRESS RELEASE– With STAR rebate checks officially five months late to many property taxpayers in the Hudson Valley, Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Westchester) is continuing the push to reform the rebate check process. Senator George Latimer (D-Westchester) has added his name as a co-sponsor to Carlucci’s bill imposing penalties for late checks. Latimer’s co-sponsorship reiterates how widespread the failure to deliver checks on time has become throughout the region.

The senators were joined at a press conference by homeowners who have not received their checks yet and Al Annunziata, the Executive Director of the Co-Op and Condo Advisory Council of Westchester. “It is completely unacceptable to make taxpayers wait five months for money they are entitled to and have been promised. The delays cause clear problems for family budgets when they are asked to make these payments as advances on their taxes and are now impacting how cooperative units operate. Property taxes in the Hudson Valley are too high and these rebates are helpful to homeowners but the State has to learn from this debacle and reform the process for the future,” said Senator Carlucci.

“For nearly six months, I have personally pursued full payment of STAR rebates for people across my district, who have yet to receive their 2016-17 checks. I join in this legislation because the state agency responsible for making these payments has essentially ignored taxpayers and failed to resolve these issues. We expect taxpayers to pay their obligations on time and in full; the same must be true for the same agency that collects taxes, which is tasked with providing rebate checks on time and in full,” added Senator Latimer.

“The delays and errors in sending out rebate checks are having a very serious impact on the finances of cooperative communities and their shareholders. The Cooperative and Condominium Advisory Council (CCAC) of Westchester, representing over 300 coop complexes and over 10,000 shareholders in this county, has heard first-hand accounts of the hardships that these unacceptable delays and errors have caused, including the thousands of our senior citizens who rely on the STAR checks each and every year. We applaud the efforts of Senator Carlucci, Senator Latimer and other state legislators who are trying to remedy the chronic and unacceptable problems in administering and delivering the STAR rebates to New Yorkers,” stated Albert A. Annunziata, Executive Director of the CCAC