Residential home owners have the option of keeping their current STAR exemption, which helps to lower you school tax bill directly, OR switching to the STAR Credit Check, which is a physical check that you receive from the state around the same time as your school bill (they also have direct deposit if available).

To incentivize switching to the Check, the state allows it to increase 2% each year while your exemption will stay the same. This means that some homeowners are missing out on the bigger savings.

The below tool will show you if you may save more by switching to the Check. It will never be less.

For 2024-25 School Tax Bills

Select Municipality: 

Select School District:

Select Comparison Type:

Enhanced STAR Credit Check vs Enhanced STAR Exemption
Basic STAR Credit Check vs Basic STAR Exemption

Click Here for Confirmation

If you wish to switch you will need to do it through the state’s website (and link to https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/property/star/). Your local assessor no longer handles anything with the STAR.