Elimination of Star Rebate Hurts Homeowners

(Long Island, N.Y.) Senator Kenneth P. LaValle has been a strong advocate of the STAR rebate program, which the Senate Republicans started three years ago to provide relief to the state’s overburdened taxpayers. This year, the Senate Democrats voted to take the STAR rebate checks away, despite repeated efforts by Senator LaValle and Senate Republicans to protect homeowners’ rebates.

“When the Senate was voting on the state budget, every Senate Democrat voted to take the STAR rebate checks away,” said Senator LaValle. “The most frustrating part was that we only needed one vote to prevent the elimination of this program. We then tried to restore the rebate checks through a budget amendment but, once again, every Senate Democrat voted against the measure.”

Senator LaValle noted that the nearly 96,000 residents in the First Senate District will go without a STAR rebate check this year. The average rebate check would have amounted to approximately $600, which homeowners could have used to help pay their property tax bill or some other household expenses.

“The time to have stood up and protected STAR was during the budget process and, sadly, not one Democrat member took that initiative,” said Senator LaValle.  “When people realize they are not receiving their STAR rebate checks this year, I hope the Democrats will be honest and tell them that they voted to eliminate this valuable program.”