Comptroller plans new tax rebate for seniors

With 2006 slated to be the final year of the city’s $400 annual property tax rebate, City Comptroller William Thompson is proposing a new refund for eligible seniors.
The $600 rebate, called “City Aid for Senior Homeowners”(CASH), would be available to owners of one-, two- and three-family homes, condos and co-ops who sign up for the New York State Enhanced School Tax Relief (STAR) program.
“There can be no doubt that thousands of home-owning seniors urgently need this helping hand,” said Thompson. “The average annual Social Security retirement benefit in New York is only $12,791, or less than 10 percent more than in 2002, and double-digit increases in Medicare Part B premiums each year have eaten up much of this increase.”
Under Thompson’s proposal, the city would provide CASH in addition to the annual $400 property tax rebate, if lawmakers in both the City Council and Albany vote to renew its authorizing law, bringing the refund total to $1,000, but not to exceed the homeowner’s tax bill.
“… When it comes to paying for the increases in home heating costs (up an average 58 percent since 2002), higher property taxes and electric bills, most senior homeowners on limited or fixed incomes simply cannot dig any deeper into their pockets,” said Thompson.
“More than 20,000 senior-headed New York City households have incomes below the federal poverty threshold of $11,805 for a couple … for many seniors, selling their home to pay these extra charges is not a realistic alternative.”
According to Thompson’s estimates, CASH would cost the city approximately $50 million annually. The city already spends $250 million a year on the $400 rebate.
To be eligible for the proposed Enhanced STAR program, an individual must be 65 or older, the primary resident of the property, and have a combined annual income of $66,050 or less.